"""--1 



A 



Sketch of the Development 
of the Modem Horse 



BY 



R S, COOLEY 



Bickmore's Horse Book 




PUBUSHED BY 

BICKMORE GALL CURE COMPANY 

OLD TOWN. MAINE, U, S, A. 




Book C 1? 

Gopight W 



COFVRIGHT DEPOSir. 



Sketch of the Development 
of the Modern Horse 



BY 

F. S. COOLEY 



Bickmore's Horse Book 




PUBLISHED BY 

BICKMORE GALL CURE COMPANY 

OLD TOWN, MAINE, U. S. A. 



LmRAfrr of congress 

Twe Cooies Recoved 

JUN[8J906 

4lass <^ XXc, No. 
COPY B. 



Copyright 1906 by 

Bickmore Gall Cure Company 

Oia Town, Maine. U. S. A. 



CONTENTS 



Page 

Development of the Modern Horse 5 

Classification of Improved Domestic Breeds 12 

Bickmore's Gall Cure, an advertisement 13 

Arabian and Barbary Horses 14 

Bickmore's Gall Cure, how^ put up 18 

English Thoroughbred 18 

The American Saddler 23 

An Apt Trade Mark 26 

The American Trotter 28 

Pacing Horses 37 

Orloff Trotter 39 

Further Uses for Bickmore's Gall Cure 40 

French Coach Breed 41 

Gerraan Coach Horse 43 

Oldenburg Coacher 45 

Cleveland Bay 45 

The Hackney .... 47 

Bickmore's in the Boer V.'cr 50 

The Percheron 51 

French Draft Horse 55 

Belgian Draft Horse 56 

Clydesdale Draft Horse , 57 

English Shire Draft Horse 59 

Suffolk Punch 60 

The Mustang 62 

Bronchos or Indian Ponies 63 

Shetland Ponies 64 

Welsh or Exmoor Ponies 65 

The 101 Ranch, a testimonial 66 

Market Classes 66 

A Warning to Buyers . . , • ' 72 

Points of a Good Horse . 73 

Horse Breeding 76 

Foreign Agencies Bickmore Gall Cure Co 82 

Trial Offer 83 



. A Sketch of the 
Development of the Modern Horse 

Many authors have sought to enlighten the minds of people in 
regard to the horse, and valuable books not a few treat of his his- 
tory, present status and management. By no means, however, 
has the subject been exhausted, and even had it been there would 
still exist the conditions that prompt the present effort. It is our 
purpose to present in a brief and concise form a reliable and accurate 
summary of the best information conceming the horse as he now 
exists and some of the stages through which he has passed in his 
development. 

Few if any of our domestic animals present subjects of greater 
interest to the scientist or to the general public than horses. 
While they have come into man's service more recently, perhaps, 
than any of the animals in the group with which they are com- 
monly associated, their story as now told extends farther back into 
the recesses of the past than that of the others. Their history and 
development has been better worked out, and abounds in facts of 
exceptional interest. They were among the earliest animals to receive 
the attention of progressive breeders. Their improvement antedates 
that of cattle, sheep or swine. Their pedigrees were much earlier 
recorded and pure breeding among them preceded that of any 
other class of animals. Nor do we wonder at this when we con- 
sider the intimacy of horse and rider, their constant companionship 
and the dependence of man upon his horse in the chase, in the 
pursuit of his foes, or in the escape from his enemies. Indeed, man's 
relative dependence upon his horse was formerly far greater than now. 

Bed your horses with clean, dry; straw. 



6 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

To-day steam, electricity, and other sources of energy have ren- 
dered man in a degree independent of the powers of the horse, so 
that mechanical enthusiasts are heralding the coming centuries as 
the " horseless age." 

Commercialism has also greatly increased the relative importance 
of cattle, sheep and other farm animals on account of their wealth- 
producing qualities. Yet never has the horse had more faithful 
champions, more ardent admirers or competent historians than at 
present, and within a decade only have we heard of a horse sold 
for $191,300.00, and several have brought upwards of $100,- 
000.00 each. If we read the signs of the times aright, far from 
declining into "innocuous desuetude" the horse is still making 
progress towards the zenith of his prosperity. 

Natural Relations 

The genus EQUUS, to which the horse family belongs, com- 
prises twelve named species and what were formerly three different 
genera. These are the horse, E. CABALLUS and E. PRE- 
JAVALLSKII, from which the domestic horse is thought to have 
descended, now represented by the Tarpan of western Asia, and 
Prejavallsky's Horse of Siberia ; the ass, E. ASSINUS and E. 
ASSINUS SOMALICUS, found in Africa and in Abyssinia; 
the Asiatic ass, E. ONAGER, E. HEMIPPUS and E. HE- 
MONIUS ; the quagga, intermediate between the ass and the 
zebra, now nearly if not entirely extinct ; and the zebra, E. ZE- 
BRA, E. BURCHELLII, and E. CHAPMANIl, of central 
and southern Africa. 

In domestication the horse has so fardeveloped in speed, beau- 
ty, and strength as to make his natural derivation somewhat doubt- 
ful. 

The family Equidae, which includes the horse, ass and zebra, 

" Hhve been in the stable business 30 years and tried every remedy for 
sores, but found nothing that gave the satisfactory results your Qali Cure 
does. J. L. Godfrey, Virginia, New. " 



NATURAL RELATIONS 7 

as noted, is grouped naturally with the tapir and rhinoceros families 
in forming the PERISSODACTYL (odd-toed) UNGULATES 
(hoofed animals). Away back in the Tertiary times the ancestors 
of these families more closely resembled each other than do the 
present representatives. And yet many important points of resem- 
blance are now presented to the keen observation of the naturalist. 
For example, the prehensile upper lip of the horse and the exten- 
sible snout of the tapir may have been developed from the same 
ancestral features. 

The rhinoceros family is steadily diminishing in numbers and 




BURCHELL'S ZEBRA (Courtesy Scientific American) 

will one day be only a tradition of former times, while the tapir 
is already coming near to its extermination. The horse, however, 
appears to be assured of a perpetual place as one of man's most 
valued subjects. The greater portion of hoofed animals in domes- 
tication as well as in a wild state belong to the pair-toed branch, 

(^very horse needs salt. Leave a lump of rocl^ salt in the manger. 



8 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

technically called ARTIODACTYLS. The artiodactyls and 
perissodactyls together form, next to man, by far the most iniportant 
order of the class MAMMALIA, which includes all animals which 
bear their young alive and nourish them after birth with milk. 

Distribution and Natural Instincts 
The horse family is found native at present in only a very small 
part of the world, the horse proper being confined to a very re- 
stricted portion of western Asia and eastern Russia, while his 
cousins, the ass and zebra, extend southward into Africa and spread 
over a large portion of that continent. No hoofed animals of any 
kind origmated in Australia. The Westem Hemisphere, while it 
does not present any living descendants of native horses, abounds 
as does no other part of the world in fossQ remains of extinct an- 
cestral species of the horse group. These fossil remains are found 
from Patagonia to Escholz Bay, but are most abundant m the 
ancient fresh-water lake region of the present states of Wyoming 
and Montana in the United States. Their presence there, and 
their undisputable relationship to the modern horse furnishes a very 
strong proof of land communication between Amenca and the 
Asiatic continent during a former geological period. 

The natural instincts of the horse are characteristic and striking. 
His home is the desert. He does not ordinarily frequent the 
fertile plains which he would necessarily share with other grazing 
animals in large numbers ; but rather avoids the companionship of 
other species and seeks the solitudes of vast expanses of barren 
plains, where his powers of locomotion make it possible for him to 
thrive where few other animals can live. He travels over firm, 
hard surfaces with great facility, but instinctively avoids the swamp 
and morass. He shuns the forest and thicket and keeps to the 
open plain. He does not trust to escape danger in concealment, 

" / have never sold anything that gave such universal satisfaction as Bick- 
more 's Gall Cure in my 20 years as a merchant. 

W. R. Kimball, Sherman, I exas. 



DISTRIBUTION AND NATURAL INSTINCTS 9 

but rather avoids his enemies by flight. His senses are very acute. 
Sight, hearing, smell, all highly developed, warn him of danger, as 
a rule, long before the hunter has leamed that wild horses are near, 
so that the wild horse is seldom seen and less often caught. He 
has little curiosity, and does not attempt to observe the appearance 
or character of an intruder. On the contrary, when he senses 
danger, he seeks protection in flight, which is swift and long con- 
tinued. He may trayel miles and miles when started, not in a 
circle to return to the starting point in a short time, but straight away 
across the desert, to distant feeding grounds, not to return to the 
spot whence he fled perhaps for months. The horse does not often 
seek to defend himself when brought to bay. His whole instinct 
is to get away, keeping to the open, where his speed may be 
utilized to the fullest extent. He wathstands great fatigue, and 
privations of food and water, so that running down the wild horse 
would be a stupendous undertaking. 

The conditions that have developed the horse are hard level 
surfaces and scanty feeding grounds far apart. As he has scoured 
the plains generation after generation, century after century, age 
after age, his limbs have grown longer and better adapted to trav- 
el ; his feet have changed to suit the surface of the ground and his 
speed and endurance have become wonderfully emphasized. As 
a result of ages of life under these peculiar conditions the horse 
has at length become a most marvelous example of specialized 
organism. No animal surpasses him in powers of locomotion over 
the hard level plain in the open. In speed and endurance he is 
the peer of them all, and it is because of this wonderful specializa- 
tion that he has become so useful to man. No other animal equals 
the horse in locomotive power. 

Pre-Existing Ancestry 

Recognizing as we must the present high degree of development 
which the horse has reached, and knowing the conditions under 

Remove the harness and rub toork horses down during the noon hour. 



10 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

which this specialization has come about, it will be interesting to 
cast a passing glance at the type of animal from which he has 
sprung. Away back in the remote geological ages, long before 
history was written, aye ! even before man had made his appear- 
ance on the earth, the forms of life, both animal and plant, were 
quite different from those with which we are familiar. Whole 
families of animals have appeared, come to a high degree of devel- 
opment and numerical importance, declined, and disappeared in 
the interval. 

The first ancestor of the horse, whose fossil remains have been 
identified as belonging to the family, lived in the early TERTIA- 
RY time, in what was called the EOCENE period, and it is in 
the rocks that were formed during that time these remains are now 
found. This was thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of 
years ago. This early ancestor of the horse from the age in which 
he lived was called the EOHIPPUS. He was about the size of 
a fox and instead of one toe on each leg he had four perfect toes 
and one that was rudimentary. Contemporary with the eohippus 
was another animal about fifteen inches in height with four toes, 
called HYRACOTHERIUM. These two animals were quite 
similar, perhaps indeed, of the same species. The OROHIP- 
PUS AGILIS of Prof. Marsh also belongs to the eocene time 
and differed from the foregoing in that three of the four toes on 
each foot were considerably smaller than the main central toe. 

In the succeeding MIOCENE period a similar animal existed, 
but it had by this time increased its size to about that of a sheep 
and had lost one toe entirely from each foot. The MIOHIPPUS 
had one large functional toe on each foot and a smaller toe on 
either side of it, which did not always touch the ground in walking. 

The last of the tertiary periods, the PLIOCENE, presents an- 
other interesting representative of the family, which is also named 

" / have used this Gall Cure at the Page ^ros. ' stock farm on cuts, galls, 
old sores, and find it the best thing of its kind ever used. 

H. L. Page, East Bethany, N. Y. " 



PRE-EXISTING ANCESTRY 11 

for the age, the PLIOHIPPUS. The pliohippus, also called the 
HIPPARION, was as large as a donkey, and had one functional 
toe on each foot, and two smaller ones, each terminating in a tiny 
hoof outside the skin of the leg. These smaller toes were entirely 
functionless, never touching the ground when walking, evidence of 
relationship to ancient types with five toes, but no longer of use to 
the animal, and consequently of reduced size, and yet not having 
entirely disappeared through long generations of disuse as they have 
since done in the modern horse. 

An examination of the leg bones of the horse will reveal upon 
either side of the cannon or shank below the knee and hock, long 
slender bones extending down the sides of the central bone for 
several inches and terminating in enlargements shaped like a hoof. 
These slender bones are called splints and in occasional monstrosi- 
ties or sports they develop to such an extent as to terminate out- 
side the skin of the fetlock joint in a tiny hoof, bearing evidence to 
an inherited tendency to have more than one toe. 

The fifth toe, lost for untold generations, may still be traced in 
the callosities or chestnuts on the inside of the leg. These callosi- 
ties conespond to the human thumb and great toe. 

We see then that the horse has developed during thousands of 
years, and countless generations, from a little five-toed animal to the 
powerful courser of modern times. Upon the hard surface of the 
desert over which he has ranged, the broad five-toed foot would 
be of no advantage, so little by litde, generation after generation, 
his members have become changed and modified into a single toe, 
terminating in a hard, tough hoof, the best possible organ for rapid 
running upon the desert plain. 

The very remote antiquity of the horse group, as attested by the 
four- and five-toed ancestors that have been discovered in the 
oldest tertiary rocks, suggusts their subsequent importance among 
the fauna of the earth. We are not left to mere conjecture upon this 
point, for discoveries indicate that long before man began to assume 

L<fcl^ p/ <fxle ^nmt increases the had and wears the wa^on. 



\2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

"control over the beasts of the field," animals of this family had be- 
come very numerous and existed in great variety. Not only is the 
chain of evolution very complete between the little five-toed eohip- 
pus and the domestic horse, but there were other forms in profu- 
sion, some of which were of great size. Fossil skulls of one-half 
greater size than those of our great draft horses have been found, 
belonging to members of the group in former times, of great strength, 
but probably not yet developed in powers of locomotion as their 
present relatives. Those best acquainted with the subject agree 
that this family was at one time far more numerous and varied than 
at present. 
Classification of Improved Domestic Breeds of Horses 

For convenience in study horses have been grouped by com- 
mon consent into saddle, trotting, coach, draft, and pony breeds, as 

follows : . X , . 1 D L 

{ Arabian and Barbary. 

Saddle , } English Thoroughbred. 

i American Saddler. 

( American Trotter. 
Trotting I Q^i^g ^^^^^^^ 

French Coach. 
, German Coach. 
^^^^ ^ Cleveland Bay. 
Hackney. 

Percheron and French Draft. 
Belgian. 9 

Draft ( Clydesdale. 

English Shire. 
Suffolk Punch. 
r Shetland. 
Pony } Welsh. 

( Mustang and Broncho. 

The general make-up of a saddle or trotting horse is long, slen- 

"Bickmore's Gall Cure is all O. K. It cures r^hile the horse is workirxg. 

C. H. Pearson, Los Alamos, Cal. 



IMPROVED DOMESTIC BREEDS OF HORSES 13 

der, wiry, and active. Superfluous flesh is objectionable. Weight 
enough to carry a rider or draw a light vehicle at speed is sufficient. 
From 1 000 to 1 200 pounds weight is adequate to the require- 
ments for the class. The prime requisite is great speed and en- 
durance. 

In the coach class less speed and more weight are desirable. 
Coach horses should be active and enduring enough to draw a 
heavy carriage at speed, but must be larger, more compactly made 
and smoother in appearance than the extreme speed type. This 
class should show quality and finish and possess high attractive 
action. 

Draft horses require heavy weight and compactness. They 
must be powerfully muscled and low built. They are useful to 
draw heavy loads at a walking pace, and therefore do not need 
speed, which is sacrificed for power. 

Pony breeds are used mainly as toy horses, or children's play- 
things. There are few places where larger horses would not be 
preferable, and yet under certain conditions they have proved to 
be superior to the heavier and more expensive types of horses. 
They are often well adapted to subsist upon scanty food supplies, 
which have greatly reduced their size. 

Bickmore's Gall Cure 

Bickmore's Gall Cure is an ointment for the cure of minor 
wounds and sores upon animals. While we call it a Gall Cure, 
its use is not confined to harness chafes and collar galls, as it is a 
healing salve of great merit for any of the many hurts and sores 
that all animal flesh falls heir to. Wire cuts are too frequent on 
both horses and cows ; for them Bickmore's Gall Cure starts the 
healing process promptly and quickly perfects a cure. Rope bums 
are bad things to neglect and should be at once treated with Bick- 
more's Gall Cure. A cure is guaranteed or the purchase price 
will be refunded by the dealer. Sometimes a horse in a nanow 
stall when getting up suddenly will hit his hip bone against the wall, 

Never whip a horse when he is trying to start a heavy load. Whipping 
maizes him nervous and discourages him. 



14 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

making a bad bruise. For this, too, Bickmore's Gall Cure should 
be used. Indifferent handling causes trouble. Frequently horses 
after being driven over muddy roads are put into the stall without 
washing the mud away carefully, as should be done. Scratches 
result which may be easily cured by using our remedy. In cold 
weather some cows are troubled with cracked teats. Milking 
causes pain and sometimes bleeding. For this trouble also Bick- 
more's Gall Cure should be used. While the average man's first 
thought is to heal the sore as an act of kindness to his faithful friend, 
the stockman who conducts his business on strictly business lines 
should also take prompt steps to put his animals in perfect condition. 
A neglected collar gall may lay up his best horse when he needs 
him most. It is surely poor business to let a horse lie idle or a val- 
uable dairy cow suffer when the small price of a box of Bickmore's 
Gall Cure will cure the sore, and the hair will grow again of the 
original color. Neglected harness galls frequently cause spots of 
white hair that depreciate the value of the horse. For bruises 
where the skin is knocked off, for minor wounds, for open sores 
upon any kind of an animal, use Bickmore's Gall Cure. We 
promise you that it will make a cure or you may have your money 
back. 

Arabian and Barbary Horses 

The desert countries of northern Africa and southwestern Asia 
are the home of some of the best horses in the world. Perhaps 
this was formerly truer than it is at the present time. In these 
countries the horse and his rider become more intimate and insep- 
arable than in America or Europe, as travel on horseback is there 
the rule. Railroads are rare and even good highways and wheeled 
vehicles are not in general use. It must at once be evident that 
the breeding, development and training of his horse are to the 
Arabian or Berber matters of deepest concern. While we are 

" Your Gall Cure has given perfect satisfaction to men on farms and grad- 
ing on railroads, They say it is the best, 

W, A. Langley, Franksville, Wis/' 



ARABIAN AND BARBARY HORSES 15 

wont to speak of Arabian horses as one breed, in their native coun- 
try many breeds or families are known, but as the general and 
almost exclusive use of all these is the same, namely, for the saddle, 
it follows that there is essential similarity between them all, and 
there is wanting that variety of type characteristic of the horses of 
western Europe and Great Britain. 

The origin of these horses is lost in the blank of fathomless 
antiquity. They form a starting point in many instances for the 
history of other breeds, but their own origin will probably never 
be knov/n. In a letter to the French general, E. Daumas, who 
for many years held important posts in Algeria and the Barbary 
states, and who has written an excellent account of desert manners 
and horses,* the illustrious Mossulman, Emir Abd-el-Kader, writes 
in these terms concerning the origin of their horses : " Know then 
that among us it is admitted that Allah created the horse out of the 

wind, as he created Adam out of mud When Allah willed 

to create the horse, he said to the south wind, ' I will that a creature 
should proceed from thee ; condense thyself ! ' and the wind con- 
densed itself Allah created the horse before man, and the 

proof is that man being a superior creature, Allah would give unto 
him all that he would require before creating himself." 

Certain it is that the history of Egypt and the countries to the 
east mention the horse as a subject of man, under the saddle and 
before the chariot at least eighteen centuries before our era, and it 
seems probable that for forty centuries the ancestry of the modern 
Arabian and Barbary horses have ministered to man's needs in 
northern Africa and western Asia. It is not unlikely that the 
chariot horses of the Pharaohs and the riding animals of the con- 
temporary desert chiefs were similar to those now found in the 
same region. The famous and well-known picture of Pharaoh's 
horses is a good representation of the Barbary breeds. 

Much care is bestowed upon the breeding, rearing and training 
* " Horses of the Sahara." 

^ horse naturally feeds from the ground — put the hay on the floor. 



16 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

of desert horses. Their pedigree traces through the mare rather 
than the sire, as with us, and in many instances these horse gene- 
alogies have been preserved f»r centuries. The foals are members 
of the family from birth and their training very carefully attended 
to. Their education begins w^hen they are two years old and is 
not considered finished until they are thoroughly manageable, not 
only under ordinary conditions, but respond readily to bit and spur 
in difficult and dangerous country under fire. Their training also 
involves a thorough seasoning and conditioning until they can safely 
take journeys of thirty to fifty leagues in a day. Almost incredible 
distances are said to be traversed by these horses under extraordi- 
nary circumstances, illustrative of which the following is recited : A 
man of the tribe of Arbaa was the owner of a beautiful mare, 
" gray stone of the river," known throughout the Sahara, named 
Mordjana. In a quarrel with the Turks at Berouaguia, twenty- 
seven leagues south of Algiers, it became his lot to sacrifice his 
treasured steed for the peace of his tribe. To save his valued 
mare he called his son aside and charged him at night-fall to steal 
her away and ride to the southward through the desert to a place 
of safety. Having fed the mare the lad at earliest night-fall sad- 
dled and rode away with his arms, at a pace making pursuit futile, 
until, the night two-thirds gone, he laid down to sleep under a 
dwarf palm. After an hour's sleep he awoke, his steed having 
eaten the leaves from the shrub, and continued the flight. At 
dawn he reached Souagui, thirty-one leagues from the starting 
point. Urging on the mare, he watered at Sid Bouzid, twenty-five 
leagues furthur, and offered up the evening prayer at Leghouat, 
twenty-four leagues beyond, having ridden eighty leagues (240 
miles) in the twenty-four hours. Numerous similar accounts of the 
wonderful endurance of these horses are related, which time forbids 
us to recount. 

These oriental horses are not large, standing about fourteen or 

"Have used ^our Qall Cure for years and find it the best. 

^M!. Hughes, Salinas, Cal, " 



ARABIAN AND BARBARY HORSES 17 

fifteen hands high as a rule, and seldom weighing more than one 
thousand pounds. In color they are dark bay or chestnut, and 
often white or gray, the grays having been rather prominent among 
those brought to western Europe to improve the Percheron and 
other breeds. They are of slender build, free from superfluous flesh 
and fat, and yet well turned, with good width of leg and depth of 
chest. They are noted for swiftness, endurance, intelligence, ability 




ARABIAN STALUON. SHAHWAN 

to stand privation of food, water or rest. Few if any European or 
English horses could compete, even for a short time, with these 
Arabs or Barbs in forced marches, carrying their food or subsisting 
on the country. 

Their value has been inestimable as a factor in improving the 

' * ^o hoof, no horse, " is a true saying. 



18 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

English thoroughbred, the Percheron, the German coacher, the 
Orloff, and the American trotter. And yet they are hardly 
adapted directly to the work of the horses of the Occident. In 
their own sphere of action they stand unrivaled. They have con- 
tributed much to the excellence of our modern breeds ; but the 
day has long passed since Arabian or Barbary crosses promised 
any advantage to horses of the western world. In America they 
have degenerated by neglect into the mustang of the plains. The 
mustang, as we shall see hereafter, traces his lineage to Moorish 
horses through those brought to Spain by the Saracen conquerors, 
and possesses unmistakable relationship to his more highly bred 
ancestors. 

Bickmore*s Gall Cure — How Put Up 

Bickmore's Gall Cure is put up in tin boxes. For the average 
buyer we recommend our two-ounce box, selling at dealer's at 25 
cents each. For a man having more use for a healing ointment, 
our six-ounce box, retailing at 50 cents each, is cheaper to buy, 
while for the large consumer we have a one-pound box which sells 
for one dollar each. There are thousands upon thousands of retail 
dealers selling Bickmore's Gall Cure in all parts of this country, but 
it sometimes happens that a stockman can not easily procure our 
remedy, and to such we will supply it at our regular retail prices, 
delivered by mail. In dozen lots we will deliver the two-ounce 
size for $2.25 per dozen, the six-ounce size for $4.50 per dozen 
and the sixteen-ounce size for $9 per dozen, cash with order. 

Large consumers should buy in dozen lots, either of dealers or 
of us, and save this liberal discount we make for large orders. 

English Thoroughbred 
As its name indicates this breed is of English derivation, and the 
word thoroughbred, originally used as an adjective, has long since 
become a part of the name of these horses. From the fact that 

"Have used your Gall Cure for some time in our outfit and find it away 
ahead of all others we have used. 

McDonald, ^McMillan Co., Camp V^o. 3, Edrans, Man., Can. " 



ENGLISH THOROUGHBRED 19 

these were the first English animals to be bred pure the word has 
been virtually preempted to this use, to the exclusion of other kinds 
of live stock. And it is not now considered in good form to use 
the word thoroughbred with any class of animals except this breed 
of horses. 

This is a very old English breed and dates from before the time 
of William the Conqueror, who became king of England in 1 066. 
It was the outgrowth of the sport of hunting and running horses 
under the saddle. Saddle racing, while quite different from the 
lance combats of mounted knights in armor and requiring a different 
type of mount, was little if any later, and perhaps even earlier, in 
point of time. At all events, as early as the eleventh century horse 
racing was a common pastime among the gentry. That this sport 
enhances the value of swift runners admits of no question. The 
fleetest horses wherever found were in demand. Mares of the 
running type in England and France were the foundation upon 
which the modern breed has been reared. 

The great improving factor in this breed was Arabian or Bar- 
bary crosses. It is likely that the crusades were the cause of the 
Arabian horses first coming to western Europe, and though the exact 
time is uncertain, it was probably near the beginning of the twelfth 
century when the first disastrous crusade, led by Peter the Hermit, 
took place. Many returning crusaders in later years must have 
left their chargers' bones on the battle field or the line of march, 
and returned with steeds from the lands through which they 
passed. At all events the value of the Arabian cross became ap- 
parent at a very early date. 

Even before the crusades a Moslem army from Spain under 
Abderame III was defeated in southern France by Charles Martel 
in 732, and again in 743. The defeated Saracen armies numbered 
over three hundred thousand men and a large force of Arab cav- 
alry. Many of the horses of the defeated Moslems fell into the 
hands of the French and have had an important influence upon the 

When training a colt, drive him with a fast Walter. 



20 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

subsequent French breeds of horses. It is probable that William 
I, in introducing French manners and customs, and even the French 
language, into the English court, did not neglect the descendants 
of these Arabian horses, which had become so valuable in France. 
Before the time of Oliver Cromwell, who Wcis bom in 1 599, 
the word thoroughbred was commonly used to designate these 
highly-bred running horses. A famous sire in Cromwell's time. 



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GODOLPHIN. THOROUGHBRED 
imported by Mr. Place, the lord protector's stud groom, was 
knovm as Place's White Turk. After the restoration Charles II 
continued the executive interest and imported four royal mares 
from Barbary. Perhaps the most famous of the Oriental sires 
were the Byerly Turk, Captain Byerly's charger, 1 689, famous 
for his fleetness ; Darley Arabian, brought from the desert of Pal- 
myra in 1 700, and Godolphin Barb, which was brought from 
the coast of Africa about 1 728. 

''Farmers here think Bickmore's Gall Cure is one of the necessities, as this 
country is hard on horses. D. Z^. Ure, ^Morris, ^an., Canada.*' 



ENGLISH THOROUGHBRED 21 

Godolphin was taken from a water cart in Paris and used as a 
teaser in one of the prominent breeding establishments in England, 
where he might have died unknown had he not been allowed to 
cover a mare which the leading stud sire had refused. The prog- 
eny of this mating was such a noted winner that his sire was 
thenceforth generously patronized and has become one of the most 
famous progenitors of them all. 

Among the most noted racers of the eighteenth century were 
Flying Childers, which in 1 72 1 ran the Beacon Course, 4 miles, 
I furlong and 1 38 yards, in seven minutes and thirty seconds, 
carrying nine stone and two pounds, equivalent to an even four 
miles in four minutes and eight seconds, or one minute and forty- 
seven seconds to the mile for the enlire distance. Flying Childers 
was esteemed the fastest runner of his day and inasmuch as the 
record for modern runners, held by Ten Broeck, and made in 
1 886 in seven minutes and fifteen and three-fourth seconds, — 
eight seconds slower than the foregoing, — it appears that running 
speed has not increased in one hundred and eighty-five years, and 
that the speed limit of that gait was therefore reached almost two 
centuries ago. 

Matchem, a descendant of Godolphin, ran the Beacon Course 
in seven minutes and twenty seconds, — ten seconds faster than 
Flying Childers, carrying nine pounds less weight, which would 
make the two records of about equal value, and the modern chcim- 
pion still more at a disadvantage by comparison. Matchem was 
also the sire of 354 winners, whose earnings amounted to over 
£1 50,000. He himself earned £l 7.000 in the stud. 

Eclipse, foaled during the eclipse in 1 764, of the Darley Ara- 
bian family, was noted as the unbeaten racer of his day. So 
invincible was he esteemed that he ended a racing career of sev- 
enteen months, during which time he won £25,000, by walking 
over the Newmarket course without a competitor. Retired to the 
stud, Eclipse begot 334 winners of £16,000. King Herod, 

Dust^ hay should be sprinkled with water when it is fed to the horse. 



22 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

descended from Byerly Turk and Darley Arabian, was another 
noted racer and sire. His progeny numbered 49 7 winners of 
£201,505. Sampson, a descendant of Darley Arabian through 
Flying Childers, was a Thoroughbred with trotting instead of run- 
ning propensities. Sampson was the grandsire of imported Mam- 
brino, whose son, imported Messenger, was the great progenitor 
of the American trotting horses. 

While the English Thoroughbred may not have increased in 
speed since the days of the great Flying Childers in 1 720, he 
certainly has not suffered in popular estimation, or in the value in 
which he is held. In support of this assertion attention is called 
to the sale of the stud of the late Duke of Westminster in 1 903, 
when Mons. E. Blanc paid in English guineas the equivalent of 
$191,500 for Flying Fox. Good judges have pronounced this 
horse the best that ever wore plates. 

The Duke of Westminster also originally owned another horse, 
ORMOND, which carried his colors to triple honors in the Derby, 
the Two Thousand Guinea and the St. Ledger, in I 896, which 
was sold to W. O'B. Macdonough for $1 50,000, the next highest 
price ever paid for a horse. 

The running records for various distances are given as follows : 



y^ 


mile 


Geraldine 


(4) 


m. 46 s. 


1889 


1 


mile 


Salvator 


(4) 


1 m. 35^ s. 


1890 


2 


mile 


Ten Broeck 


(5) 


3 m. 27>^ s. 


1887 


3 


mile 


Drake Carter 


(4) 


5 m. 24 s. 


1884 


4 


mile 


Ten Broeck 


(4) 


7 m. 15^ s. 


1886 



Description and Characteristics 

The English Thoroughbred is of various colors, generally dark 
and prevailingly bay, frequently with white marks on face and legs. 
He is tall and slender, standing about 1 6 hands at an average, and 
weighing from 1 000 to 1 200 pounds. 

His head is fine and lean, with an expression of extreme mettle 
*' Am a farmer, liaise some horses. Have used your Qall Cure and 
find it all and more than it is recommended. ' 

Jacob Bettinger, Chittenango, N, Y." 



DESCRIPTION AND CHARACTERISTICS 23 

and fire. His neck is long and slender, fine at the throttle, and 
not high-crested. His shoulders are long and oblique ; chest deep 
but not wide, and loins powerfully muscled. His croup is some- 
what level above long, muscular quarters. His legs are fine and 
muscular above, and fine and clean below the knee and hock. 
His characteristics are : 

1 . Supreme speed at a running gait. 

2. Great bottom and endurance for long races and journeys 
under the saddle. 

3. Tremendous fire and mettle which he Imparts to all breeds 
upon which he is crossed. 

4. A nervous temperament and an intelligent disposition. 

The English Thoroughbred is known in America to a less 
extent than in England, but he has been a prominent factor in the 
formation and improvement of all our trotting and saddle breeds of 
horses. The French coach breed partakes largely of his blood. 
The Hackney was improved by Thoroughbred crosses. Our best 
saddle breeds own the Thoroughbred as an important element in 
their origin. 

The best hunters and cavalry horses carry a good percentage 
of Thoroughbred blood. As an improving factor on all speed 
horses his influence is incalculable. As a saddle racer he is 
supreme. 

The American Saddler 

The gaited saddle horse of America has been produced because 
of a revival of saddle riding among people of wealth and social promi- 
nence, and a certain originality of thought which has found a greater 
elegance and attractiveness in riding at other gaits than the walk, 
trot, canter horses can show. Just as the Narragansett pacer was 
produced in the colonial days of saddle and pillion, to meet the 
then existing conditions of travel, when, roads were mere bridle 

A stable should not be dark i admit the light. 



24 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



paths through the forest and wheeled vehicles were rare ; just as 
the Cleveland Bay, developed as a public post-horse in coaching 
days before railroads were built, was nearly lost when his place 
was taken by the steam locomotive, but has lately been revived for 
the growing needs of express delivery ; so the American Saddler is 
becoming an established breed to meet conditions demanding riding 
animals of the qualities he possesses. 




GORGEOUS GIPSY QUEEN. AMERICAN SADDLER 

His history as a breed is short, being practically measured by a 
quarter of a century of time, for the American Saddle Horse 
Breeders' Association was not organized until 1 89 1 . The Ameri- 



' ' / don 't hesitate to recommend your Gall Cure. I have used it on saddle 
horses on large ranches in the West and I^now its merits. 

Fred P. Jones, ^radley, Ind. Ter." 



THE AMERICAN SADDLER 25 

can seat, as represented by the cowboy of the western plains with 
long stirrup straps, and no daylight between the horse and his rider, 
differs essentially from that affected by the English rider, with his 
short stirrups and constant up-and-down motion. That the Ameri- 
can seat is easier to both horse and rider and more elegant hardly 
needs assertion. The trot has been found unsuited to the saddle 
by comparison with other gaits, such as the pace and canter, and 
most emphatically as compared to the single-foot or running walk. 

The main elements of blood in the American saddler are the 
Thoroughbred, especially that of the stallion Denmark by imported 
Hedgeford ; and American trotting mares, particularly those of 
pacing families like the Tom Hals. To this blood has also been 
added that of some of the best saddle horses of the western plains 
and Kentucky. Among the mustangs there has been found occa- 
sionally a beautifully gaited single-footer, whose character has 
aided in transmitting the gait to the new breed. It will be seen 
that the saddler is strictly a warm-blooded horse, somewhat of the 
Thoroughbred type, but rather more compactly made and lofty in 
carriage and action. Elegance of manners and style of action are 
esteemed of greater value than finish and smoothness of conforma- 
tion ; and yet in these last particulars he is more uniformly excellent 
than the Thoroughbred or the American trotter. 

It is mainly the ability to go the regulation five gaits that deter- 
mines the eligibility of a saddler to registration in the stud book of 
the breed. Concerning gaits, we are familiar with the walk and 
canter, and the trot, which is sometimes called the diagonal gait 
because the legs on opposite corners move in unison, i. e., the left 
fore leg with the right hind leg, and the right fore leg with the left 
hind leg. In the pace both right legs move in unison and both 
left the same, which has given rise to the term " lateral gaited," or 
" side-wheelers." 

The pride of all the gaits is the single-foot, most elegant and 
essential to standing in the breed. In this gait there is the same 

"Oentilation is very important ; ^eep the air in the stable pure. 



26 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

interval between each of the footfalls. In the fox trot the fore foot 
touches the ground slightly in advance of its opposite hind foot ; 
and it is, like the fast walk or slow pace, an all-day gait of six or 
seven miles an hour. 

In the running walk the hind foot strikes the ground slightly 
quicker than its opposite fore foot. In it the head is carried higher 
and the rein tighter than in the fox trot or rack. The single-foot 
and running walk are fast elegant gaits and capable of ten miles an 
hour up to a mile in three minutes. 

In the rack or slow pace the hind foot strikes the ground an 
instant before the fore foot. Here then is an assortment of eight 
gaits, five of which, including the pace and single-foot, are required 
for admission to the breed. 

Of the conformation of these horses little more need be said. 
They are in a sense between the Thoroughbred and the trotter. 
They ought to be of 15/^ to I 6% hands in height and of a de- 
sirable color, and up to weight for carrying a two-hundred pound 
man, but gaits and manners are the prime essentials of the breed. 

An Apt Trade Mark 

To select a trade mark for our new possession, " Bickmore's 
Gall Cure," was a puzzling task for us in 1 892, when we com- 
menced business. The ointment had shown itself to be good and 
we were anxious the packages should have some distinguishing 
feature that would enable them to be recognized at sight by any 
and every one, whether ignorant or informed. A happy thought 
came to us : Use Doctor's picture and have it taken when he was 
in action drawing a load. How simple, yet how plainly it would 
illustrate the then unheard-of fact that a gall could be cured by using 
our salve while the horse was worked. This we did and our old 

** ^ickmore's Gall Cure is a very excellent article for wounds or sores on 
animals. Have found it a very good salve for TX)ounds on humans. 

Martin Esser, 'Pose^ville, Ind. '* 



DOCTOR 



27 



friend's picture proved to be one of the happiest hits for a trade 
mark ever recorded. 



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fek- «0^^^ 


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1 



THE OLD GRAY HORSE AT WORK 

Doctor 

Doctor came to us from the West, a barefoot youngster, fresh 
from the farm. He was a dapple gray, of good height, with a 
deep chest, powerful legs and broad back, one of that type of 
heavy draught horses developed by Western breeders. He was 
tractable, good natured and willing. Strength he had in abun- 
dance, coupled with the good horse sense to use it to advantage. 

The numerous requirements of a large manufacturing business 
and training in good hands speedily brought out his many good 
qualities, so that when any special hard task was to be accomplished 
no other horse but Doctor would answer. One of his tasks was to 
draw coal from the pit up into the boiler room. Small dump cars 
were used, running over a narrow guage track that ended directly 

See that the collar Jits your horse 's shoulders properly or \)ou will have to 
buy a box of ^icf^more 's Gall Cure. 



28 DEVELOPME^JT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

in front of the boiler doors. On the inside of the track, some five 
feet above the coal heap, was a plank just wide enough for a horse 
to stand upon while the cars were run by him and dumped before 
the further boiler. To see him drag in the heavy load and, with- 
out word from the driver, step aside upon the narrow bridge out 
of the way of the cars was enough to cause one to form a higher 
opinion of man's most faithful servant. On cold, stormy days in 
winter his warm perch on the plank was so much more to his liking 
than the outside air that in the lulls of the work it was customary 
to allow him to stay inside. The glare from the open furnace 
doors so near, the roar of the escaping steam when the boilers blew 
off were not enough to disturb his period of rest. It was interest- 
ing to see him handle a loaded freight car. The magnificent ex- 
hibition of strength to start the ponderous load along the rails, and 
the nicely applied and steady pull to barely keep the car in motion 
afterwards was but another evidence of his unusual intelligence. 
In common with some of the other horses, Doctor soon learned 
the meaning of the noon whistle, and the hungriest man in the crew 
was not more averse to working over time than was he. 

Doctor has passed to his well-earned rest. A busy life he had, 
crowded with hard tasks well performed. He was worthy of the 
honor we bestowed upon him. His picture has interested many a 
horse owner in Bickmore's Gall Cure ; has been seen and recog- 
nized by thousands in other lands who can not read these words, 
but who can and do remember " The Old Gray Horse at Work." 

We revere Doctor's memory. 

The American Trotter 

The standard trotting horse of America is essentially the product 
of American notions and of conditions developed by American 

" One of my customers has just cured his horse of a stick fast. After 
using other cures I induced him to try ^ickmore 's. Inside of ten days the 
horse Was Well ; worked him continually. 

E. T>. Baum, 326 Flushing Ave. . Brooklyn, ^. Y." 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER 29 

institutions. Harness racing is more than anything else responsible 
for the present characters of the trotter, just as saddle racing in 
England gave his qualities to the Thoroughbred. There are cer- 
tain institutions that are peculiarly American. The great national 
sport of baseball is a notable example, and it differs essentially from 
the games of ball played in other countries. Harness racing, mile 
heats, best three in five by classes, is another great national sport. 
To play this game, speed at the trot (or pace) is the prime requi- 
site. The bike-sulky, appliances of hamess and boots, parlor 
tracks, a perfect system of training and conditioning, skilful driving, 
all important factors in winning the game, become impotent with- 
out the inherent ability of the horse to trot fast. Every effort on 
the part of those engaged in the trotting game has been bent 
toward producing a horse that can trot a race of mile heats faster 
than his competitors. Hundreds of local and state associations 
hold race meetings, at which liberal purses tempt the efforts of 
trotting-horse men to win, and even racing circuits of national 
character engage the interest of horsemen week by week for a 
season of several months each year. It has therefore become the 
regular business of a prominent class of men to develop and race 
the best of our trotting horses, and it has become the business of a 
still greater class to breed and rear horses of the type that wins 
races and which command long prices as a racing prospect. 

It is not alone the race tracks that make a demand for trotting 
horses. Many men of wealth enjoy light buggy driving behind a 
good stepper, and a " brush down the road " with a rival. In 
America racing horses in harness is a mania, and thousands of 
young horsemen take delight in " giving their dust " to others whom 
they come across upon the road. Many of these live upon farms 
with more or less favorable opportunities for breeding their own 
horses, which are embraced with alacrity. There is always the 
added reason, or excuse, that the successful venture will bring a 
good price when sold. The American Trotter is more than any- 

"Variety in feed is most agreeable and in every Way best for the borse. 



30 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



thing else the legitimate product of these conditions. 

The blood elements in his formation are also of great interest to 
the student. It is mainly to the Thoroughbred influence that the 
speed of the trotter is due. We have already seen that the Thor- 
oughbred has been bred and developed for centuries for his 
supreme speed at the running gait. From him the American 
Trotter gets speed. By careful training and selection the gait has 
been changed to the trot, which is more suitable to harness uses. 




MESSENGER. TROTTER 

Of the noted individuals that have contributed to the blood of the 
trotter, imported MESSENGER, stands first and foremost. Per- 
haps it would not be inaccurate to assert that the influence of Mes- 



" Have been selling your Qall Cure for eleven years and have never yet 
found a case it did not help. 

W- W, Stevens & Co., Danhury, Conn, " 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER 31 

senger surpasses that of all other horses in producing trotting supe- 
riority. Messenger was foaled in I 780 and imported to America 
in 1 788. He was a Thoroughbred by Mambrino, by Engineer, 
by Sampson, by Blaze (?), by Flying Childers, by Darley Arabian. 
Messenger's dam was by Turf, by Matchem, by Cade, out of 
dam by Regulus, both by Godolphin Barb. Perhaps the trotting 
propensities of the Messenger family come through Sampson, who 
is described as a horse of unusual size and power, with a marked 
preference for the trotting gait. So strongly was this trotting ten- 
dency displayed that when considered with his size and conforma- 
tion, it has caused some horsemen to question his breeding, sug- 
gesting that he may have been got by a coach horse instead of a 
Thoroughbred. BELLFOUNDER was another trotting Thor- 
oughbred, foaled in 1815, imported in 1 822, got by Bellfounder 
out of Velocity by Sir Peter, out of Miss Hervey by Eclipse. 
The great HAMBLETONIAN family of trotters was founded 
by Rysdeck's Hambletonian out of Bellfounder mare by a grand- 
son of Messenger. 

MAMBRINO, a son of Messenger, was the founder of the 
Mambrino family. 

Space forbids us to dwell at length upon DUROC, son of 
Diomed, a Derby winner, and Pilot, a French Canadian pacer, 
foaled in 1 826, and Grand Bashaw, a Barb brought from Tripoli 
in 1820 ; but we must pause to make mention a little more fully 
of JUSTIN MORGAN, the progenitor of the Morgan line. 

JUSTIN MORGAN was foaled in I 793 near Springfield, 
Mass. He was probably by a Thoroughbred horse (True Briton 
or Beautiful Bay) and out of a mare said to carry the blood of 
Lindsey Arabian in her veins. Justin Morgan was owned for 
many years in Middlebury, Vt., where he was employed about a 
saw mill, in addition to other duties. He must have been a marvel 
of versatility, for he is said to have been able to outwork, outtrot, 
outrun, and outpuU any horse in the region. Though he weighed 

Drainage is important — give the stall flooring a slight incline. 



32 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



but 950 pounds he performed, in addition to his stud duties, regu- 
lar work at the mill, was a favorite buggy horse, was used in run- 
ning races by the boys, and at militia muster was in demand as an 
officer's mount, and considered the handsomest, proudest charger 
in the troop. Through his three sons, Sherman, Bulrush and 




RYSDECK-S HAM3LETONIAN, TROTTER 

Woodbury, he left a highly-prized family. The Sherman branch 
was represented by Black Hawk, Ethan Allen and Daniel Lam- 
bert. The Morgan family, although not so extremely fast for a single 
mile as the Hambletonians, are generally of better conformation 
for service, have a high degree of mettle, and remarkable bottom 
for long drives or years of use. I have amojig my notes the tale 

"/ have been selling Bickmore's Gall Cure for ten years. The ranchers 
here luon '/ bu^ an\)thing else. John Madison, Saticoy, Cal. 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER 



33 



of Old Billy,— as furnished by the West End Street Railway Co. 
of Boston — whose skeleton is now in the Boston Natural History 
Rooms. Old Billy was a gray horse bred in Vermont, of Morgan 
stock, and weighed 1 023 pounds. He ran on a stage until nine 
years old and then passed into the railroad company's hands, 
where he ran between Boston and Brookline for 2 5 years. He 




DANIEL LAMBERT, MORGAN 

never lost a trip through sickness or disability, and is computed to 
have traveled over 125,000 miles ahead of the company's cars. 
At 34 years old he passed into the hands of the American Express 
Co. and did duty on a feed truck in their stables until he died 
eight years later in his forty-second year, Christmas, 1 890. 

Jl horse stall should be nine feet long and five feet Wide. 



34 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

The Hambletonian family, already alluded to as founded by 
Rysdeck's Hambletonian, is the most important family of trotters. 
Indeed, practically all American trotters now carry a considerable 
portion of this blood. The leading sons of Hambletonian were, 
George Wilkes, Electioneer, Alexander's Abdallah, Dictator and 
Happy Medium. 

Among the greatest breeders of trotting horses the late Hon 
Leland Stanford of Palo Alto, Cal., and Cicero J. Hamlin of 
Buffalo, N. Y., were conspicuous. 

Trotting speed has developed within a century in a marked 
degree, as shown by the following records for one mile. Although 
many trotttng horses in America and Europe had shown ability to 
trot races of four to twenty miles at good speed in the eighteenth 
century, and perhaps earlier, no record of a mile trotted faster than 
three minutes was made before 1 806. That year Yankee trotted 
a mile over the Harlem, N. Y., half-mile track in 2.59. This 
record was gradually lowered till in 1845 Lady Suffolk trotted a 
race mile at Hoboken, N. J., in 2.29%. Flora Temple was the 
first horse to beat 2.20, which she did in 1859 at Kalamazoo, 
Mich., trotting in 2.19%. 

In 1867, Dexter trotted a mile in 2.17^ 

In 1874, Goldsmith Maid trotted a mile in 2.14 

In 1878, Rams trotted a mile in 2.13| 

In 1879, St. Julien trotted a mile ih . . . . . . . 2.12| 

In 1884, Jay Eye See trotted a mile in 2.10 

In 1885, Mauds, trotted a mile in 2.08| 

In 1889, Sunol (3) trotted a mile in 2.10|- 

In 1892, Nancy Hanks trotted a mile in 2.04 

In 1894, Alix trotted a mile in 2.03 1 

In 1900, The Abbott trotted a mile in 2.03^ 

In 1902, Cresceus trotted a mile in 2.02^ 

In 1903, Major Delmar trotted a mile in 1.59| 

In 1903, Lou Dillon trotted a mile in 1.58^ 

" Your Bickmore's Qall Cure is the only Qall Cure I ever used that would 
cure up collar galls while I continued to work '^^ horse. 

"Ft. 6- Barrett, T>ry Creek. ^- Va. " 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER 



35 



It follows, when the rules of the National Trotting Horse Regis- 
ter admits animals entirely upon a speed basis without regard to 
conformation or soundness, great variety of type must exist in the 
trotting breed. We find for a fact trotting horses ranging in weight 
from seven hundred pounds to nearly a ton, and in height from 



P^ 


I^BilH 


wll^^^^ 


k 'I^^H 


1 





LOU DILLON, CHAMPION TROTTER 

thirteen to eighteen hands. Great variations in general conforma- 
tion are also noticeable. It is much to be commended that some of 
our best breeders, C. J. Hamlin, J. Malcomb Forbes and Thomas 
W. Lawson, have put size, conformation and finish before speed 
in selecting their breeding animals. It is worthy of remark that our 
national government is undertaking the development of an Ameri- 
can coach breed at Fort Collins, Colorado, from trotting-bred 



Look ^^11 to the feet. Keep them clean. 



36 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



horses of good size of the Morgan type, combining speed and 
general excellence for carriage purposes. ^ 




BINGEN, FORBES TROTTER 

While we criticize the policy of admitting to register many 
weedy animals because of this ability to trot miles in 2.30, there is 
an ideal type that is in demand, and is being bred in increasing 
numbers. This type differs in certain particulars from the Thorough- 
bred, which it much resembles in the main. It is somewhat lower 
and shorter in leg as a rule and slightly more compact in body. 
In gait the trotter should possess great reach, with smoothness and 
regularity of action, low and frictionless rather than high and showy. 

The speed limit at the trot is not yet reached. It will probably 



"ylm never without Bickmore's Gall Cure in my barn. It will cure if you 
only put it on. It is the thing for the cotton farmer. 

7^. E. North, Clifford, Ark." 



PACING HORSES 37 

be slower than the running limit, which has not been materially- 
reduced for 1 80 years, but it will be reduced very slowly from 
now on. Whether it will ultimately be 1 .50 or less is problemat- 
ical. 

Pacing Horses 

The pacing gait, where both right and both left feet strike the 
ground in unison, has been recognized for centuries, and in older 
times pacing horses were esteemed for the saddle, as attested by 
this passage : " Upon an amblere esely sche sat." (Chaucer, 1 340- 
1 400.) The pure pace was then varied with the rack and the 
amble, or broken gaits, in which the fore and hind feet do not 
strike the ground exactly in unison, but either the hind foot or the 
fore foot strikes the ground an instant before its fellow. The old 
Narragansett pacer was a notable example of a family of horses of 
that gait, having becoming very popular for saddle purposes and 
afterwards lost through disuse under changed conditions. 

The pacer as found in America is closely related to the trotter 
and in breeding follows similar lines. It is true that certain families^ 
such as the Hals and Blue Bulls, are more inclined to the pace by 
inheritance than horses bred in trotting lines, and that some trotting 
sires are more prepotent in transmitting pure trotting action than, 
others ; but nearly all trotting sires beget a prominent percentage 
of foals that pace. Not only does the same blood produce both 
trotters and pacers, but both gaits are not infrequently met in the 
same individual. There are notable examples of fast racers having 
changed from one gait to the other. Heir-at-law was successfully- 
campaigned at the trot and afterwards at the pace. Jay-Eye-See, 
once a trotting champion with a record of 2.10, afterwards obtained 
a record of 2.06% as a pacer. I have observed that racers often 
go slowly at the opposite gait from the one they use when extend- 
ed. On the Charter Oak track in Hartford I noticed the cele- 
brated trotting stallion, Walnut Hall, pace up the stretch before 

In feeding whole corn give it on the cob. 



38 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



scoring down at a trot ; while the pacing champion^ Dan Patch, 
jogged back at the trotting gait. 

While the two gaits often result from the same breeding, they 
have not the same general utility. A pair of pacing coachers 
would look ridiculous. Pacers are not as desirable roadsters. 
Their conformation is not so pleasing, their carriage is lower, their 



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DAN PATCH. CHAMPION PACER 

quarters generally less well turned. For the saddle the true pace 
is not so easy or elegant as the amble or the rack. 

It is chiefly as racers that pacing horses are m demand. The 
pacing gait is from two to four seconds faster than the trot. Train- 
ers of pacing horses have very commonly put hopples upon their 

" Our stable boss informs "s that the Qall Cure is giving good satisfaction. 
Caledonian Coal Co., Gallup, ^. t^SfT. " 



PACING HORSES 39 

horses to prevent mixing ; but their use has not always prevented 
" mix ups," when a hoppled pacer gets tangled and goes down. 
An effort to bar hoppled horses from races has not appeared to 
be successful, because the supply of both hoppled and free pacers 
of racing abilities does not yet fill the demand. 

Some of the records of the best pacing horses are as follows : 

Dan Patch 1.55i Joe Patchen 2.01 i 

Dan Patch, without pace Robert J 2.01 j 

maker in front .... 1.58 Little Boy 2.01 1^ 

Prince Alert 1.57 Anaconda 2.01 f 

Star Pointer 1.59^ Coney „ . . 2.02 

John R.Gentry 2.00 ;i 

Orloff Trotter 

A Russian breed, founded by Count Alexis Orloff Tschismens- 
ky, state mmister to Catherine II, who had extensive lands in the 
province of Orel, one of Russia's most powerful and productive 
states. In 1 775 Count Orloff imported the gray Arabian stallion, 
Smetanxa, a horse of great speed, power and size. Bred to a 
Danish mare, he produced Polkan I, which in turn produced Bars 
I from a Dutch mare. English, Danish and Dutch mares have 
all been freely used, but the sires generally taken from foundation 
stock. Bars I was of the type Orloff aimed to secure, and by his 
prepotency, supplemented by rigid selection, a class of horses 
sprung up, fostered by the powerful family of Orloff and other 
Russian nobles. 

A few Orloff horses were shown in America at the Bay State 
fair in 1 884, and more in Chicago in 1 893, but they are not nu- 
merous here as yet. 

They are much inferior to American trotters in speed, but are 
strong, vigorous horses, and should prove useful for carriage work. 
They are generally black or gray in color, upstanding, strongly 

When a horse is overheated or tired, allow but a few swallows of water. 
^It least an hour later give him his fill. 



40 



DEVELOPMENT -OF THE MODERN HORSE 



made horses, about sixteen hands high and weighing 1 1 00 pounds, 
approaching the right conformation for a coach horse. 




ORLOFF TROTTER, OURIADNIK 

Further Uses for Bickmore's Gall Cure 

Our friends who have largely contributed to our success by- 
generous purchases of Bickmore's Gall Cure, and who are respon- 
sible for our increasing sales, frequently-write us of cures of troubles 
for which we have not recommended it. One man in Australia 
cufed mange in his dog. A dealer in Pennsylvania wrote us of 
a prize " rooster " that was badly bitten and whose comb nearly 

" Wa^ up in the Adirondack Mountains, the past summer, I saw some of 
^our Gall Cun and witnessed its usefulness. 

Isaac ,M. Daggett, 1296 Madison Ave., New York, ^. K. " 



FURTHER USES FOR BICKMORE'S GALL CURE 41 

rotted off, saying that Bickmore's Gall Cure perfected a cure- 
Another dealer told of a bad case of eczema in the hands, afflict- 
ing a friend, which was cured by the use of Bickmore's Gall Cure. 
It has even been adopted by nurses in hospitals for curing bed 
sores. Another reports its successful use for curing chafes on 
babies. A bad fever sore was borne by a resident of this city for 
years, which he was unable to heal or to get help for. At his own 
desire we supplied him Bickmore's Gall Cure, with which he cured 
the open sore which was as large as a silver dollar. Afterward 
going to Virginia, this same man induced a woman friend to try 
the Gall Cure for a bad case of milk leg, and the same satisfactory 
result was obtained as in his case. One of the largest manufac- 
turers in this section was in his younger days a filer in a saw mill. 
The steady use of a large flat file caused a bad sore in the palm 
cf his right hand and numerous cracks on the fingers of both hands. 
His daily labor made the continuous friction necessary, and as a 
result salt rheum, or a kindred skin trouble, resulted, which made a 
small, obstinate sore that physicians were unable to heal. In 
speaking of his experience recently this man said that Bickmore's 
Gall Cure did better work for him than anything he could find, 
and now, after using it, all that shows for his trouble of years' stand- 
ing is a calloused place in the palm of his hand. 

French Coach Breed 

On account of the difficulty of procuring suitable horses for mili- 
tary purposes the French government took steps during the eigh- 
teenth century to increase the production of horses of the desired 
type by the following means : First, the establishment of a school 
of horse, where the correct type of horses and the principles of 
breeding and management were taught, and uniformity of ideas 
of government officials promoted ; second, importation of Thor- 
oughbred stallions for use at a nominal fee by French horse breed- 

■ Handle the young colls gently ; give them confidence in you. '77he^ will 
be much easier trained. 



42 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

ers ; third, subsidy of best Thoroughbred and Demisang stallions 
owned by private parties in amounts between seventy-five and five 
hundred dollars annually according to breeding and quality ; fourth, 
licensing desirable stallions not in the subsidy class to stand for 
public service ; fifth, castration of all stallions not approved by the 
government officials ; sixth, purchase of all young, desirable horses 
produced by users of approved stallions at remunerative prices. 




FRENCH COACHER, PALADIN 

The French Coach breed is the result of a cross of the Thor- 
oughbred upon the riding, military and general purpose mares of 
France. Their breeding began during the last quarter of the 

" Your Gall Cure is the best article I have used to put into the hands of 
men who will not tal^e precautions to prevent their team from galling. 

Dr. Wm. H. DeCourcy, Carmichael, ^Mid. " 



FRENCH COACH BREED 43 

eighteenth century, and the Thoroughbred blood now predominates 
over that of native stock. They are not, however, devoid of vari- 
ation of type, nor do many of them appear particularly prepotent 
in transmitting the breed characters and conformation. A few 
large studs are kept in America, among which are those of Dun- 
ham, Fleether & Coleman of Wayne, III., and the late J. W. 
Sanborn of Lewiston, Maine. 

They are of good size, weighing from 1050 to 1300 pounds 
and standing 15% to 16% hands. They are of toppy, blood- 
like appearance, of good conformation and substance, and high 
attractive action. The head is fine and lean, the neck long, arched 
and lofty, the shoulders long and oblique, the body deep and close- 
ribbed, the back strong and short, the croup level and strong in 
the coupling, the quarters well muscled and deep, the legs straight, 
with large, well-knit joints and wide cannons and shanks, pastern 
long and slanting, feet tough and well made. The French coacher 
is characterized by a smooth, well-turned conformation, a strong, 
attractive action, endurance for long drives at good speed, good 
manners and intelligence, and adaptability for coach or heavy har- 
ness work. He is probably not as impressive and prepotent in 
transmitting his characters as some of the purer breeds of more 
fixed qualities. 

German Coach Horses 

For three or four centuries the German government has been 
improving its horses in a systematic way to secure a large, strong, 
active type for military uses. The foundation stock was taken 
from mares of the agricultural, military and riding classes, and im- 
provement mainly secured through Oriental crosses. From these 
sources, and by means of careful selection of breeding animals, a 
useful military, riding and coach class has been evolved. They 
were first brought to America in 1 885 by Oltmans Bros, of Wat- 

Carrots mal^e a good addition to a horse 's feed, but should always be 
chopped, not whole. 



44 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



seka, III., who are still engaged in importing and breeding German 
coach horses. The breed is not numerous nor wide spread in the 
United States, but is growing in favor. 




GERMAN COACHER. GAUDIAN 

They are nicely-turned horses, of large size, much substance and 
showy appearance. Some critics charge a lack of springiness, that 
goes with the type of carriage horses most prized in America ; but 
these smooth, substantial German Coachers should prove successful 
sires of carriage horses when crossed with American trotting, mares 
of high life and action. 

" One of m^ team horses had a sore necl^ for two years. He is cured from 
one box of your Gall Cure. J. S. Spikings, Irving Park, HI- " 



GERMAN COACH HORSES 45 

THE OLDENBERG COACHER is in a sense a local 
variety of the German, much as the Morgan is of the American 
trotter, but its breeders and importers are inclined to keep it distinct 
Irom the general breed and press their claims to its popularity be- 
cause of greater uniformity of type, purer blood and a stronger pre- 
potency in transmitting the inherited character. 

The origin of the Oldenberg is like the German in native mares 
crossed with fine stallions from Arabia, Barbary and Spain. 
During the sixteenth century steps were taken to improve the local 
breed. Count Johann XVI, 1 552-1 557, was especially active 
in procuring horses from Turkey, Italy and Spain. During the 
following centuries selection of typical breeding horses has been 
observed and fixity of type and purity of blood inculcated. A 
few of these horses were brought to America during the last two 
decades of the nineteenth century, where they gained a good 
reputation by winning honors over all coach breeds at the Colum- 
bian Exposition in 1893. They are described as bay or brown 
in color with dapples, and commonly a white star on the forehead 
and a white hind ankle. A characteristic marking is a lighter 
shade around the nose, popularly styled " mealy nose." In size 
they are uniformly large, I 6 hands high and weighing about 1 200 
pounds. In form they are symmetrical, well-muscled, stylish and 
strongly made. The head is elegant, fine and carried high, the 
neck strong and well arched, the shoulders long and oblique, back 
short and strong, body round and close-ribbed, coupling smooth 
and powerful, croup high, quarters full and long, legs strongly made 
and of good width. They are characterized by high, attractive 
and powerful action, good tempers, sagacious and intelligent. 
They are bold, fearless movers with a load at speed. 

Cleveland Bay 

The name is taken from the old town of Cleveland in Yorkshire, 
England, and the uniform bay color of the breed. They originated 

"Jlfter trial of your Gall Cure we find it gives excellerit satisfaction. 

^rushy <^7liCountain Coal Co., 'Petros, 'TTenn. " 



46 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

in coaching times and were especially prized for use in fours and 
sixes on the public coach. They were contemporary with the 
Hackney and appear to have sprung from the same ancestry, but 
became of a somewhat different type on account of a different use. 
While the Hackney was the private gentleman's horse of all work, 
the Cleveland was the public horse, largely used for post work. In 




CLEVELAND BAY 
breeding there is evidence that a Scandinavian cross was early 
used upon the agricultural horses of England, and that the resultant 
old " Chapman " horse of Yorkshire was well known two or three 
centuries ago. Thoroughbred crosses were also used to some 
extent, increasing the speed and road capacity of the breed. The 
product of these crosses was an exceedingly popular and useful class 
of horses, which were well known and in general use in coaching 
times. With the advent of railroads the use of these horses was 
gradually taken away until the breed was thought to be lost. Of 
late a determined effort to resuscitate the Cleveland Bay has borne 
fruit and its improvement has been well received. 

When a horse is frightened do not add to his fright hy using the whip. 



CLEVELAND BAY 47 

A few breeders are producing them in America, although they 
are not very generally known, and a record association has been 
formed with R. P. Steriker, Janesville, Wis., secretary. The 
Cleveland Bay is in color pure bay with black points. He stands 
about 1 6 hands and weighs from 1 1 00 to 1 400 pounds. In 
form he is between the Thoroughbred and the farm chunk, and 
makes what might properly be called the " express type," varying 
towards the carriage horse. He combines substance with mettle, 
is a free mover with a load, and very docile and intelligent. Uni- 
formity of color and conformation makes matched pairs easy to 
produce. While they are valuable as coach horses and expressers, 
their powers may be turned to all kinds of farm work. In a plow- 
ing contest upon sod land for six consecutive days, a picked team 
of Clevelands had a picked team of Clydesdales beaten so badly 
at the end of the fourth day that the latter withdrew and paid the 
wager. 

The Hackney 

In breeding the Hackney is similar to the Cleveland Bay. The 
farmer's horse of a few centuries ago, carrying some Norwegian 
blood, had been selected into a type known as the Norfolk Trotter. 
Subsequent Thoroughbred crosses of the Hunter type increased 
the snap and activity. Until recently the Hackney has been a 
type or class rather than a pure breed. He has developed by 
selection, for horse users have found that compactly made, full 
muscled, upstanding, substantial animals, with lots of ginger and 
action were about perfection for family use. The breed has grown 
out of rigid selection of this type, and later the action has been 
much emphasized. 

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century many Hack- 
neys were imported to the United States, where they have become 
widely distributed. Among the best studs in America may be 

" IVe had occasion to use ^icl^more's Qall Cure. '^o our surprise the 
horse worked and got Well. Judson L. T)avis, Abington, III. " 



48 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



mentioned the Plymouth stud of Eben D. Jordan of Boston, and 
that of Frederick C. Stevens of Attica, N. Y. The Hackney is 
the horse PAR EXCELLENCE for heavy leather and the tan 




HACKNEY STALLION, FANDANGO 

bark ring, and he is no less popular for horsing private caniages 
of wealthy people for park work, shopping, or social calls. As car- 
riages have grown in elegance and beauty, they have increased in 
weight, with springs and padding for comfort, and it requires a horse 

of some substance to harmonize with the outfit. City and park reg- 

* 

*C/je brood mare should have plenty of exercise. 



THE HACKNEY 



49 



ulations preclude fast driving, so that horses that can show well and 
step high, without going too fast, are in demand. It is to meet 




ERELONG, AMERICAN COACH 

these requirements that the Hackney is being bred and selected. 

He is described as of a bay, chestnut or brown color, often with 
white markings, from 15 to 1 6 hands high, weighing 1050 to 

"Jim using your Gall Cure for sore backs on cow ponies and find it the 
best thing I ever tried. Ji. Jl. Spaugh, rManville, Wyo. " 



50 DEVELOPiVlENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

1 200 pounds. In form he is blocky, round, and compactly made, 
with plenty of muscle and substance. He fills the eye as an object 
of beauty from whatever point ys^e view him. His head is fine, 
clean and intelligent, ears small and attractive, neck muscular but not 
too short, well set on, shoulders smooth and oblique, back short, 
smooth and muscular, quarters long and powerful, legs strong and 
well made, a little larger than in the speed types ; the feet are also 
of good size. 

The crowning attribute of the Hackney is his high, stylish action, 
which, added to perfect manners and beautiful conformation, makes 
him a great favorite, commanding a good price. 

Bickmore's in the Boer War 

At the commencement of the Boer War in South Africa we 
were desirous of having Bickmore's Gall Cure used by the British 
troops. We felt sure that, under very hard conditions existing in 
that country, horses would see very rough usage, and would need 
a healing ointment of merit. We realized that such a highly de- 
veloped organization as the British War Office would have a corps 
of highly-trained veterinary surgeons, who would be called upon 
to recommend methods of treatment for sore horses, that they might 
be kept in the best possible condition. So our first effort was to 
induce the War Office to test Bickmore's Gall Cure, feeling, as we 
did, that it would do better work in rough service than any of the 
standard preparations known to the profession. A letter was ad- 
dressed to the British War Office, asking that a test be made of our 
remedy and offering to supply a quantity of Bickmore's Gall Cure 
for trial free of charge and delivered. As we rather expected, we 
received a very formal letter, stating that such a test could not be 
made. A second letter from us brought forth another courteous 
but firm refusal. We did not give up, but then set about getting 
a trial made by the troopers themselves, the men who had to ride or 

Old horses, or those having poor teeth, should be fed ground grain. It is 
more easil}) digested. 



BICKMORE'S IN THE BOER WAR 51 

drive the horses and who would appreciate such an article for its 
worth, regardless of whether it was the product of an officer of the 
army or a manufacturer in business. We wrote to our London office 
that when mounted troops were again dispatched to South Africa 
a clerk be sent to the dock, who should give out free sample boxes 
of Bickmore's Gall Cure to the men themselves before they sailed. 
This was done and nothing further was heard for a long time, 
when one day we received notice that an order for a considerable 
quantity of Bickmore's Gall Cure for the use of the troops in South 
Africa had been filled. And thus the remedy used by thousands 
of American and Canadian farmers in the peaceful pursuits of their 
daily lives, overcame by its merits alone the objections of the con- 
servative army bureau and won its own way, proving its great virtue 
in the face of official indifference. 

The Percheron 

The name is taken from the department of Perche in central 
France, including three political divisions, Montagne, Nogen-le- 
Rotrou, and Vendome, and occupying a territory about twenty-five 
leagues long by twenty wide. The Percheron should not be con- 
fused with the Norman, which comes from a heavier and slower 
type in the region to the northward. The horses of Perche were 
bred from native stock, represented by the old BLACK HORSE 
of western Europe and Britain, with Arabian crosses. 

The old Black Horse was the product of feudal customs and the 
abundant nutritious feed of the lowlands. Although of general 
use for the pack saddle and agricultural work, the best specimens 
were prized by the knights who fought in armor. The weight 
of rider, armor, and accouterments was about four hundred 
pounds, and required a substantial horse to carry it. In with- 
standing the shock of the charge or in charging, weight was a 

' ' Have used your salve for some time and must say it is superior to any- 
thing I have used on our stock- 

Ft. Yates, Winona & Bismarck. Stage Line, Bismarck, N. D." 



52 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

distinct advantage, for the lighter mount was the more easily 
turned from his course, to the discomfort of his rider. Weight 
and activity under the saddle were important attributes of this 
old Black Horse, and conditions were suitable to their develop- 
ment in a large degree. We mention the fact particularly because 
these big horses were the foundation stock for all our modern draft 
breeds. 

The Oriental influence goes back to the time of the defeat of 
the armies of the Saracen, Abderame, in the eighth century, when 
a large body of Arabian horses fell into the hands of the French. 
During the crusades other eastern horses were brought into 
France, and later special importations were made, those of the 
gray stallion, Gallipoli, and Godolphin being best known. Spanish 
and English blood were also used ; but the two great factors were 
the Black Horse and the Arabian. 

Of equal importance with the breeding, is the system and de- 
velopment of the Percheron, which is as follows : 

1 . All mares in the breeding district are expected to produce a 
foal each year, in default of which they are sold. They perform 
the work of the farms while in foal, fully paying their keep, and 
the foal forms a substantial income. 

2. At five or six months old the foals are weaned and sold for 
$100 to $125, to be kept for a season on the pastures of Pin, 
Mauves, Longny, Corbon, etc. They make rapid growth, but do 
no work, and pay out in advanced values. 

3. At one and a half years old they are broken in and put to 
light work in teams of four. They are liberally fed, kept growing 
and their labor about pays their keep. 

4. At three years old they are again sold to the Beance farmers 
and for the next two years they pay well for their feed by the 
rapid draft work performed. Speed and activity are emphasized 
here, rather than heavy loads. It is a sort of sifting process in 

Some authorities say that all grain feed should be ground, if whole grain is 
not fully digested when expelled. 



THE PERCHERON 



53 



which the weaker specimens break down, while the stout, rugged 
colts become seasoned for the strenuous work ahead of them. 

5. At five years the omnibus and truck companies buy them 
for their final field of usefulness, seasoned and fit for any exertion. 




CASTELAR. PERCHERON STALLION 

The French government regulates the horse breeding in Perche 
by destroying all inferior stallions, licensing the good ones and sub- 
sidizing the best to the amount of $50 to $1 50 annually. 

Percheron horses were early brought to America ; the horse 
Norman having been imported in 1816, Old Louis Napoleon, a 
famous stallion, in I 85 I . The Massachusetts Society for Promot- 

"Have had excellent results from use of this cure ; feel we should not he 
i^ithouf it. Standard Oil Co. of N. Y., (Brooklyn. " 



54 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

ing Agriculture made several importations. Canadian horses carry 
much of this blood, but have reduced in size in the new country. 

No draft breed is so v^idely and generally distributed through- 
out America. Percheron grade draft horses in cities, on farms and 
in horse markets largely outnumber all other breeds combined. 
They have achieved their premier position by priority in the field 
and by intrinsic value. Not only weight but active habits com- 
mend them to users and their clean legs are generally preferred to 
the profuse feather on the legs of some British breeds, particularly 
for farm work. 

Description 

Size: large, 15 to I 7 hands, 1300 to 2000 pounds weight. 
There has been a great demand for heavy horses in America dur- 
ing the last two or three decades, and the Percheron horse has in 
consequence been selected more for size, whereas formerly activity 
was more insisted upon. As a result the breed is much heavier 
and less active than formerly. Color : dappled gray, turning to 
white with advancing age, was formerly a characteristic color. On 
this account the Percheron lost somewhat as compared with the 
bay of the Clydesdale and darker colors of other breeds. Conse- 
quently black has become the prevailing color of late. It may be 
said that with the great demand for blacks, anything and every- 
thing in the line of black stallions of heavy weight has been ac- 
cepted, while only the very best of the grays found favor. Very 
naturally the superior quality of many of these grays is causing a 
decided reaction in favor of the color, on the principle that a good 
horse is never of a bad color. 

General form: broad, low, blocky, massive, and symmetrical. 
The head is medium large, showing some Arabian lines ; the neck 
is massive and short with high crest ; the shoulders wide, oblique, 
and smooth ; body deep, round, and short ; loins strongly muscled ; 
croup rather sloping ; quarters big and powerful ; legs short, wide 

Careless feeding and watering ruins man}) a valuable horse. 



DESCRIPTION 55 

apart, strongly made and free from feather ; pasterns supple but 
strong, feet good. 

The characteristics of the Percheron are, massive strength and 
muscular power in the collar, great endurance and staying quali- 
ties, superior activity for horses of their weight, easy keeping and 
intelligence. A little book on the Percheron horse by Du Hays, 
translated by Weld, gives a very good account of the subject. 

French Draft 




FRENCH DRAFT STALLION 

The French Draft has much in common with the Percheron and 
is especially related to the modern Percheron as found in America. 
He differs in being heavier and more sluggish, for want of the 
Arabian influence, so strong in the best Percheron of a half century 
ago. The French Draft is more like the Flanders and Belgian 
breeds. 

" I use your Gall Cure on cows' teats with success. 

J. f^. Vance, San Antonio, ITexas. " 



56 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSI 



Belgian 

Belgium and Holland and Flanders have some good breeds of 
draft horses intimately related to the other breeds of Europe, that 
are very much prized at home. These all have had more or less 
influence upon the draft horses of America, but about the only one 




BELGIAN STALLION, REVE D'OR 

that has been imported here is the breed known at home as 
Boulonais. A few of these came to Illinois as early as the late 
sixties and early seventies, and quite recently they have been im- 
ported in larger numbers. A magnificent display of the breed 
was made at the Louisianna Purchase Exposition in 1 904, where 
they made a sensation. 



Qioe the horse his heaviest feed at night when he can rest and digest it 
properly. 



CLYDESDALE 57 

Their origin is the old Black Horse of the lowlands, the same as 
in all the other heavy breeds, and their improvement has been 
mainly through selection. 

They are an extremely massive type, very wide, very low and 
very heavy. In weight for height they probably exceed all 
breeds. Like most of the continental breeds, their legs are not 
feathered. They are horses of tremendous power, but not exces- 
sive action. 

Clydesdale 

This Scotch breed takes its name from the river Clyde which 
runs through its breeding grounds. The region where these 
horses flourish includes the historic countries of Lanark and Sterling 
in southern Scotland. 

In blood we find the foundation in the old black war horse of 
the lowlands, fortified by frequent Flemish crosses, and probably a 
more recent Cleveland Bay cross, which has given increased activ- 
ity and the prevailing bay color. 

In very early times a breed of heavy horses was well known in 
the region, and extensive trade carried on with breeders on the 
continent, and the Flemish influence was quite prominent. The 
Douglas family was largely interested in the breed, and in I 352 a 
safe conduct was granted to William, Earl of Douglas, for ten 
grooms and ten large horses to Teviotdale in the king's domain. 
In 1 715-20 John Patterson brought a Flemish stallion to Loch- 
yock which became famous for his progeny. During this period 
the Clydesdale and English Shire horses mingled blood very freely. 
A century ago the Clyde was heavy, sluggish and black ; but a 
half century later he became generally bay in color and lighter and 
quicker in movements, circumstances pointing strongly to a Cleve- 
land cross. 

" Have handled your Gall Cure for eight years and find it the best medi- 
cine on earth for sores of any nature on animals. 

<McKinney & Hills, ^TUCcKinney , 'Vexas." 



58 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



The Clydesdale was early brought to America, but mainly to 
Canada, until about 1 860. 







1^; |-M- 






f 




^Rl 


" p\ V- 


"[\i 




. 


1 


^Si^B^^^ 


Jil 




1 




■1 


^^KWm 




jfj 


1 


—^... 


^ms r 


* ; ,fl 


m 




i. 




.:,i 


If 


i 


* 






B^ 


^ 


*-d 


i::^S. :. 1 




^ 




^#>^. 




^ 





CLYDESDALE STALLION, PRINCE WILLIAM. JR. 

The Clyde may be described as a drafter of an upstanding, 
resolute, slashing-gaited type, somewhat more rangy than the Per- 
cheron ; longer in the head, neck, body, and leg ; not quite so 
massive in build ; straighter in his top line, especially more level on 
the rump. His legs appear larger because of the feather they 
carry. He has a bold, prompt, resolute step that gets him over 
the ground rapidly, and is very tractable and good mannered. 
Probably the Clydesdale type is not equal to the Percheron in 
wearing qualities or economy of keep. 

'^he colt will train easier at six months than when a year old. 



ENGLISH SHIRES 



59 



English Shire 

Another big draft breed, perhaps the biggest of them all from 
the black war horse of the middle ages, has until recently been 
known as the English Cart Horse. He was quite fully described 
by Low three quarters of a century ago. The blood of his native 







' -1 


■H^Ej 


1 ^^^s^^ 


1-., 1 


IK^^ 


^^^ 


.-^., 



SHIRE STALLION. BURY VICTOR CHIEF 

ancestry was liberally supplemented by that of Flanders and breeds 
of the adjacent mainland. There is evidence that the Romans 
prior to A. D. 400 prized a heavy breed of British horses. King 
John, 1 299- 1316, imported one hundred Flanders stallions. Ed- 
ward II was a patron and improver of the breed. Henry VIII 

'* Farmers claim your Gall Cure will cure an^ case of galled skin or shoul- 
der without stopping the animal from Work. 

(B. IV. Hays, Gordonville, J^o. " 



60 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

compared his bride, Anne of Cleves, to " a great Flanders mare." 
Robert Bakewell was a prominent improver of these horses and 
imported Flemish stallions. Dodman, the horse of hair, was a 
noted sire about 1 790, and was distinguished by mustaches and 
long hair under the knees, characters he freely transmitted. 

The Shire is not numerous in America, having been late in 
making his appearance, and somewhat unpopular for his hairy legs 
and sluggish movements. Of late he has rapidly gained ground 
because of improved action, and the great demand and high prices 
for big horses. When it comes to size the Shire is it. 

The Shire is described as very large in size, weighing from 
1 600 to 2400 pounds. In color bay prevails, but blacks, roans, 
chestnuts, and sorrels are found. In form he is massive, long, 
broad and low. He is large in head, heavy in neck, wide in 
back and loin, moderately level in rump, long in under line, legs 
big, wide apart and well covered with feather below the knees. 
His joints and feet are big. He makes an impressive appearance 
harnessed to a dray, and exhibits great power in the collar. He 
has a fair walk, but is too heavy to trot much, and is quiet and 
pleasant tempered. He is a heavy feeder and is most in demand 
on city drays, where weight is of more importance than activity. 

Suffolk Punch 

An old English breed popular to the vicinity of Suffolk county. 
Its origin is obscure, though there have been from time immemorial 
horses of this character in southern England. The conditions seem 
to have developed that out of whatever material came in. There 
are indications of a Norman or Percheron cross prior to the eight- 
eenth century. The Suffolk stud book contains records of various 
crosses since 1 725, some of which were warm blooded in charac- 
ter. For more than two centuries Suffolks have been locally 

Jin overheated horse should he thoroughly ruhhed, walked around in the 
open air, and then covered with a woolen blanket. 



SUFFOLK PUNCH 



61 



referred to as the " Old Breed." Newspaper accounts of draft 
trials are still extant bearing dates of the early part of the eighteenth 
century. It appears that the old Suffolks possessed indomitable 
pluck and courage to pull. They would draw until they came 
down to their knees. This grit in the collar has given them an 
enviable reputation as drafters. About 1 770 a Yorkshire trotting 
horse, known as Blake's Farmer, a short-legged chestnut stallion, 
was extensively used as a sire in Suffolk. Perhaps the majority of 
Suffolks trace to him, many of them through young Briton, his most 
noted great-grandson, foaled in 1 796. The prepotency of the 
old breed was very great, and its characters have become very 
firmly implanted on whatever stock has been brought into close 
relations with it. 




SUFFOLK MARE NECTAR AND FOAL 

Very few Suffolks are found in America ; but they possess very 
useful attributes. They are described as middle-sized horses, 
weighing 1 300 to 1 800 pounds, are always sorrel or chestnut in 

"Have been selling your Gall Cure to Potomac Coal Co. for two years. 
They recommend it highly for horses with sore shouldtrs. 

P. H. Gallagher, ^arton, ^Md. " 



62 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

color, are very close built and compact, with short, clean legs, free 
from feather. They are well adapted to farm work, having requi- 
site weight, a good walk, a fair trot, great power and bottom for 
continued exertion, and are easy keepers. At the same time a 
team of four or six of these sorrel chunks would do things with a 
big dray, or brewers' truck, that would make the " good big ones " 
hustle to beat, and they wouldn't look badly hitched that way 
either. 

The Mustang 

The horses of the southwestern plains of the United States are 
descendants of Spanish importations. The first importation, made 
by Columbus in 1 493, perished ; but subsequent importations by 
Columbus in 1527, and particularly by DeSoto in 1540, have 
left progeny which has multiplied into large bands of animals of 
small value. As the Spanish horses from which the Mustang has 
sprung have come from Oriental stock through the Moors, who 
brought them to Spain, we have proof of a very direct inheritance 
of Arabian and Barbary qualities by these Mustangs. They have 
lost much of their finish and symmetry of form during centuries of 
natural selection without the direction of man, and have probably 
reverted towards the ancestral type, but they are possessed of the 
warm blood, the wonderful locomotive powers of their ancestry, 
and where they have lost in attractiveness they have gained in 
independence of artificial care and feed. 

They are of small size, 700 to 900 pounds weight, about 1 4 
hands high and very slender in form. Their necks are long and 
straight, set on low, their shoulders narrow, sides flat, rumps steep, 
quarters lean and thin, legs straight and tough. 

They are found in all colors, but the paler ones are rather char- 
acteristic, duns, yellows and calicos. They are exceedingly tough 
and hardy, and have great endurance for long journeys. Their 

Keep })Our work horses Warm in winter. It is cheaper to k.eep up the animal 
heat with clapboards and blankets than with feed. 



THE MUSTANG 



63 



capacity to carry weight is out of all proportion to size, and they 
make excellent cow ponies, and many are high-class polo ponies. 

Their reputation for meanness is doubtless mainly due to their 
nervous tempers and the system of breaking (without real domesti- 
cation) in vogue. 




BRONCHO 



INDIAN PONIES, or BRONCHOS, belong to a region 
farther north than the Mustang, and carry the blood of French 
stock brought from Canada separately, or in conjunction with Span- 



"/ would rather have one box of Bickmore's Gall Cure than ten of any 
other kind for my own use. Will C. tNiord, Louisville, Ky. " 



64 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



ish blood. They are, as might be expected, of easier tempers, 
more compact build, and generally darker colors than the Mustang. 

Shetland Ponies 

Originated on islands north of Great Britain and are a very old 
breed. Their characters are probably due to centuries of gradual 




SHETLAND AND CLYDESDALE 
variation to meet the conditions of an island habitat, a bleak cold 
climate and a sparse supply of food. They are of diminutive size. 
Their feet are very tough, seldom needing shoes. They have 
very thick, long coats of hair to protect them during those northern 
winters, and generally have very bushy manes and tails. 

When turning out horses to pasture in summer, two feeds of grain each Jay 
should be given. 



WELSH AND EXMOOR 



65 



They have quiet tempers and good intelligence and make toy 
horses for children, of unsurpassed excellence. In color they pre- 
sent almost everything that goes, black, white, bay, chestnut, dun 
and piebald all being common. 

Welsh and Exmoor 




WELSH PONY. TALLY HO 



Characteristic of the poor, bleak highlands of Wales, they are 
of small size, weighing 400 to 800 pounds, standing 1 to 1 3 
hands, are more slender in build than the Shetlands, rather taller, 
and run more to the dark colors. 



Have just tried Bickmore 's Gall Cure on a horse, having the scratches, 
that could hardly walk. Used one box on him and cured him perfectly. 

Isaac Zuercher, Pandora, Ohio. '* 



66 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

The 101 Ranch — A Testimonial 

The 1 1 Ranch, located in Oklahoma, is one of the best-known 
in the United States. It contains 87,000 acres, enclosed by 1 50 
miles of wire fencing. There are three towns within its borders, 
Bliss, Red Rock and White Eagle. It contains thousands upon 
thousands of acres of corn, wheat, alfalfa, oats, melons, fruit trees 
and small fruits, besides thousands of acres of range, over which 
graze cattle, horses, mules, hogs and buffalo. It has a telephone 
system, with thirty-five miles of private wire. Five hundred hands 
are employed during the busy season. Fifty "cow punchers" 
attend to fifteen thousand cattle and five hundred mules. There 
are three hundred work horses and a herd of thirty-five buffalo, 
preserved as curiosities. 

This well-known ranch is used for agricultural pursuits and as 
an immense stock-breeding farm, raising everything from buffalo 
down to chickens. Its work is conducted upon strictly business 
lines ; its purchases are of articles known to be good. A letter 
giving the experience of the proprietors of this immense ranch with 
Bickmore's Gall Cure should be read with interest by every stock- 
man, and we take pleasure in printing it here : 

" White Eagle, Okie, July; 14. 1898. 

' ' Dear Sirs : 'Please find enclosed $5. 00, for which send us that amount 
of your Gall Cure. Would just as soon have it in hulk, as it is for our own 
use. We work over one hundred head of horses, and it takes quite a lot to 
go around. Have used it, and like it splendid. 

" We buy all our supplies at Tvholesale, so will expect dealers' prices. 
Please send by Wells, Fargo & Co. Express. 

Yours truly, THE 101 LIVE STOCK CO. " 

Market Classes 

Horses present greater difficulties in grading for the market than 
almost any other product. In modern markets the grains are 
graded so accurately that any given class is as standard as govern- 

Jl neglected gall or cut will lead to trouble later. 



MARKET CLASSES 67 

ment bonds, and is traded in many times between producer and 
consumer, without ever being seen by most of its buyers and sellers. 
Beef cattle obey the same law, and when one properly understands 
the method of classification he can tell very accurately what the 
price of any given lot will be by reading the market quotations. 
It will be found that there is just about fifty cents per hundred 
weight difference in price between extra choice and choice, choice 
and good, good and medium, medium and fair, and fair and com- 
mon steers. 

Market horses obey the same law, but as intimated they are 
harder to grade because their qualities vary more widely and their 
adaptability to any purpose is far less uniform, and consequently 
the prices obtained present greater contrasts than do other market 
products in general. 

The gre'atest horse markets are New York, Philadelphia and 
Chicago. St. Louis also handles a great many horses, and perhaps 
more mules than any other trade center. Chicago is typical as a 
well-systematized market, especially of the heavier grades of horses, 
although New York and Philadelphia perhaps excel in classes of 
quality and action. A characteristic Chicago market quotation is 
as follows : 

Poor to Fair. Good to Choice. 

Drafters $110 to $160 $165 to $240 

Loggers and feeders . . 75 to 1 45 1 50 to 190 

Chunks 75 to 100 no to 145 

Expressers 110 to 150 150 to 170 

Farm mares and chunlis . 60 to 90 90 to 125 

Light drivers .... 65 to 1 30 150 to 400 
Actors and coachers . . 100 to 175 200 to 450 

To discuss these several classes under their respective heads, we 
shall learn as follows : 

" BickrnoTe' s Gall Cure has become a necessity mth our farmers. 

W. S. Worthington, Neshaminy, Pa. " 



68 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 



DRAFTERS are horses of size, finish and condition, and of 
the muscular, weight-pulling type. They must not weigh less than 
1 600 pounds in good condition. They must be smooth, compact, 
symmetrical and well-turned, and must be well covered with flesh, 
often to a point of over-fatness. With condition and quality, the 
greater the weight the higher the price. Good drafters weighing 
a ton will often bring $400 to $500 and are eagerly sought after. 




SIX-HORSE TEAM OF CLYDESDALES 

The competition among buyers for the " good big ones " is very 
sharp and prices realized very remunerative, while anything falling 
below 1 600 pounds must go into another class. 

LOGGERS and FEEDERS are horses of large size, but lack- 
ing in quality or condition. For the lumber camps big horses, even 
if rather coarse, are just as useful, and the investment is less. The 
risk of loss or injury and small advantage of fine appearance gener- 
ally decide the lumbermen in favor of the coarser grades of large 
horses. At the same time many big horses come into the market 

^M^olasses, from one to three pints twice each day, mixed with grain, is an 
economical food. 



MARKET CLASSES 69 

having plenty of quality but poor condition. Now fat is requisite 
to top prices in the horse market, so that many farmers make it a 
business to buy horses in thin flesh and feed them for a few months, 
and then return them to be sold, when fat, for a good advance in 
price. The FEEDERS of good quality when fattened become 
DRAFTERS in the market. 

CHUNKS are horses of the draft type, but under weight. 
They are compact, well-made horses, in good condition and 
weighing from 1300 to 1550 pounds. 

EXPRESSERS are of about the same weight as chunks, or 
possibly rather less in most cases, a little more upstanding and 
rangy in build, with quality, finish and considerable action. The 
expresser, in his best estate as to quality, mettle, size and finish, 
becomes the best type of fire horse, while the slightest and smallest 
of the class find use for the general delivery work on grocery 
teams, &c. 

FARM MARES and CHUNKS are a still smaller type of 
animals useful chiefly for farm work, weighing from 1 100 to 1 300 
pounds ; they are equal to any kind of work. They are of the 
compact draft type, and therefore economical, easy keepers, quiet 
in temper, and strong for their size. It is from this class of mares 
that many drafters are bred by the use of big stallions of a ton 
weight. 

LIGHT DRIVERS are an entirely different class of horses, 
of slender build and nervous temperament. It will be seen that 
their prices vary widely according to quality and speed. A light, 
slender horse, without quality and speed, is a cheap horse indeed ; 
but with a high degree of finish and quality, and the speed 
that the best ones possess, they cease to be a market factor 
and are sold at private treaty for prices up in the four figures, 
occasionally in the five figures, and one or two stallions of this 

" PTe have used your Gall Cure for the past three years and find it the 
best cure for old sores we can get. 

American Lead & Baryta Co., Old Mines, Mo. " 



70 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

type even for six figures, e. g., Axtell $105,000 and Arion 
$125,000. 

ACTORS and COACH ERS comprise a class with more 
substance and weight than light drivers, rounder in form, more 
bone and bigger muscles, with the same quality and finish, and 
high, trappy action instead of extreme speed. This class varies less 
than the preceding, for it requires a good horse to make the class. 
On the other hand they do not command such remarkably high 
prices as speed horses of the highest quality. PLUGS are com- 
monly found in markets and comprize second-hand horses, gen- 
erally old, or unsound, or otherwise inferior, and command very 
low prices. 

Saddle Horses 

Besides the foregoing Chicago market classes, saddle horses are 
found in numbers to supply the large demand in many places. 
The two types of saddle horses are "WALK TROT CAN- 
TER " and the GAITED saddler. The former is similar in type 
and price to either the light driver or the actor and coacher, and 
his usefulness for saddle purposes detracts nothing from his carriage 
qualities, but may add slightly to his value. The gaited saddler, 
already described as a breed, has a high value because of his 
special qualities, the limited numbers in the market and the ability 
of people who want these qualities to pay well for them. 

A COMBINATION horse is one that is adapted to both 
saddle and carriage uses. 

To bring the highest prices in the market certain requisites per- 
taining to age, soundness, training and condition are observed. 
Unsound horses are not wanted, and it will not pay to market 
them. Horses with spavins or curbs, or ring bones, or any un- 
soundness of legs which may produce lameness, command very 
low prices. The same may be said of defects in the wind, which 
incapacitate animals for the best service. 

The stall Toindow should he so placed that the light will not shine directly 
into the horse 's e^es. 



SADDLE HORSES 71 

The best market age is five to eight years, after seasoning and 
development is complete, and before the best useful period of life 
is very far advanced. 

Unbroken horses are not very salable, and it will not pay to 
market them until they have been well broken, thoroughly accus- 
tomed to use, and even seasoned to work. 

Finally, however useless fat may be as to its intrinsic value, fat 
horses sell better than poor ones, and it will pay well to have 
horses fat before attempts are made to sell them on the general 
market. 

Horse Sales 

The great horse sales are very interesting in many ways, chiefly 
on account of the rapidity and volume of business. None but 
experts can follow them, and yet in spite of the rapidity and seem- 
ing recklessness of these sales, every obligation is strictly carried 
out and the buyer has a certain time in which to prove his pur- 
chase and return it for a refund of the price if it does not prove as 
represented. 

A common method of description is to hang out a placard with 
one or another of the following legends : 

"At the halter," " Worker only," " Wind and work," "Service- 
ably sound." " Sound." 

The sign " at the halter " guarantees absolutely nothing. The 
buyer takes his horse as he finds him and runs his own risk. His 
purchase may be blind, lame, fitty or wind broken, and he may 
balk, kick or run away. The bill of sale does not recomm_end him 
as having a single useful quality, and there would be in this case 
no " come back." 

If " worker only " is the tale, the horse may be blind, lame or 
wind broken, but will work as well as he is able and does not or- 
dinarily balk. It is the least that can be given by way of guarantee. 

" We are using Bickjnore's Gall Cure on our own teams. It is far supe- 
rior to Qny remedy we have ever tried for sore shoulders on horses. 

^eimer B'os., Winnipeg, Man., Canada," 



72 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

" Wind and work " guarantees the animal to be sound in wind 
and a willing worker, but may have unsoundness in his legs or be 
blind or blemished. 

" Serviceably sound " means having no defect that lessens his 
capacity for work. The horse may have soft puffs on the joints, 
or wire cuts or blemishes that only injure his appearance ; he may 
even be a litde thick in wind, if not wind broken, but can do as 
much work as though he were perfectly sound. 

" Sound " is the highest possible guarantee. It is equivalent to 
a statement that the subject has no defect in wind or limb, is well 
broken, kind and free from vices, and if not so found within time 
allotted for trying him out, he may be returned for a refund of the 
purchase price. Very commonly horses so purchased can be 
returned within twenty-four hours and money received on mere 
statement that the buyer does not like the horse. 

Warning 

Influenced by the large sale which Bickmore*s Gall Cure has, 
there are now on the market many new makes of Gall Cure, the 
makers of which claim them to be " just as good as Bickmore's." 
The thinking man will realize that when a manufacturer or a dealer 
makes this statement he acknowledges that Bickmore's Gall Cure 
is the standard. Some dealers will offer a box containing more 
salve. Quantity does not count; it is the quality, the healing 
properties of a salve that make its value to the stockman. Use 
but a little Bickmore's Gall Cure, follow our simple directions and 
it will give you satisfaction. We ask our customers to always 
insist upon having Bickmore's Gall Cure ; to always look for our 
trade-mark, the old gray horse at work, which is on every box 
and all of our advertising matter. 

Bickmore's Gall Cure, wherever bought, is warranted satisfactory 
or money refunded. Avoid substitutes, which are seldom satis- 
factory. Send your orders direct to the factory if your dealer is 

Jlie disposition of a horse is mouldti b]) that of the driver. 



WARNING 73 

trying to~push the sale of a new Gall Cure upon which he proba- 
bly makes a larger profit. 

United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations. 
Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station, 

Office of Special Agent in Charge, 
.Mayaguez, Porto Rico, JHCarch 25. / 905. 
Bickmore Gall Cure Co., Old "^own, Maine. 

Dear Sirs : I enclose voucher for your signature covering purchase of March 
1 6. In the hot climate of the tropics we have more or less trouble from galled 
shoulders. We ^eep a supply of your cure on hand, having been familiar 
with its use in the states, and get admirable results from its use. 
'Ueri; truly yours, 

D. W. ,MAY, 

Special ylgent in Charge of T^orto T^ico Experiment Station. 

Points of a Good Horse 

The selection of a horse is an undertaking for which the average 
person has little confidence, and such would doubtless do well to 
employ a competent horse judge of known integrity. While horse 
traders have not a very enviable reputation, most of the large and 
well-known dealers are honest, not only as a matter of principle, but 
because it is a good business policy. The horse dealer, doing a 
large and increasing business for a series of years, finds the confi- 
dence and satisfaction of his customers among the most important 
of the factors contributing to his success. Many a wealthy person 
would do far better to entrust his purchase to a reputable dealer 
than to his coachman or groom, for the latter would be apt to sup- 
plement the first method by a liberal " rake off " for his personal 
share of the deal. 

If the selection of a horse or a carriage pair is beyond the powers 
of the average person, much more is the judging of relative merits 
and characters of an entire group. Horse judging is indeed expert 
work, requiring very special training and powers of discemment 
and its treatment in a sketch of this kind would be presumptuous. 

" Can recommend your Call Cure. It is as good for man as for Beast. 

Q. T>. Sutler & Son, Yreka, Cal." 



74 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

There are, however, certain points in a horse that any one can 
consider, and in their application learn much of the horse's value. 

The head is a valuable index to equine nature and quality, and 
tells more than anything else of the character of the possessor. 

A big, coarse head generally goes with a sluggish temper, while 
an over-fine head may belong to a very nervous and unsafe animal. 
A rather medium size goes with the best temper, and if more 
refined it will indicate good life. Lips rather firm indicate strength 
and determination. 

The eye is a wonderful indicator of temperament, e. g., a dull 
eye expresses want of action and life ; a mild eye, easy temper and 
good feeding quality ; a very prominent eye indicates nerve force, 
and if its expression is wild and restless, its possessor is apt to be 
unsteady and perhaps unsafe. An eye showing much white com- 
monly belongs to a horse of pronounced temper and great courage. 
Such a horse, ill treated, might become balky or vicious. 

The ears, if small and wide apart, indicate fine quality and high 
mettle ; if too large they show a dull, sluggish character. When 
pointed forward they indicate a pleasanter disposition than when 
laid back upon the neck. 

A forehead wide between the eyes betokens intelligence, while 
if it is narrow, a sullen, dull character is indicated. Prominent but 
fine under jaws indicate power and energy, and a wide intermax- 
illary space, good wind. The angle of the head with the neck 
indicates breeding and quality, and should be rather wide to 
recommend it. 

While the mental traits of a horse are of great importance his 
body mechanism is equally so. A strong horse would not be very 
useful if he was too sullen to work or too excitable to be safe, 
neither would a courageous, good-tempered horse be worth much 
without good legs and a strong body. 

The neck should be strong, set on rather high and well back 
and carried high. The shoulders should be long and oblique, ex- 

The man^en should he regularly cleaned out and k'^pt clean and sweei. 



POINTS OF A GOOD HORSE 75 

tending well into the back to give activity and reach. The back 
should be short and well-muscled. The hips smooth and not too 
prominent. The quarters should be long and muscular. The tail 
should be set on high and carried well up. The set and carriage 
of the tail indicate in a noticeable degree the manners and style 
of the horse. The legs should be set straight, well-muscled above 
the knees and hocks, and wide and lean below. The pasterns 
should be strong and supple and set at the same angle as the 
shoulders and thighs. The feet are of great consequence, and 
should be of medium size, well formed and dense as to horn, elastic 
as to frog, concave as to sole, and full and strong as to the bars of 
the heel. 

The body should be deep in the chest, and in width according 
to breed, to give room for breathing and the vital organs. A close- 
ribbed body is a strong body, and a body that is low in the flank 
indicates great bottom and endurance. The legs should be well 
under the body, particularly the fore legs, which indicate stiffness 
or unsoundness if projecting ahead of a vertical line from the elbow. 

It goes without saying that the legs should be smooth and free 
from blemishes, and wind should be good ; but an extended dis- 
cussion of these points would be out of place in this paper. 



^ov. 28, 1905. 

The ^ickmore Gall Cure Co., Old Town, JlfTe. 

Gentlemen : On Sept. 24 I received from ^ou half dozen boxes of your 
Qall Cure with instructions, which I followed out, using one box on a mare 
that had made the trip to the Uinta Reservation and back, 500 miles, and 
had eight bad saddle and collar galls. They rvere completely healed in ten 
days under dail^ use. I then used it on an old saddle gall which an attack of 
distemper had caused to break out, forming a spot the size of a hen 's egg. 
'XThis entirely; disappeared and the horse is sound. 

Your cure is all that you claim for it and more. Many thanks for your 
courtesy. I find that Parson's Drug Store, T>urango, Colo., handles it. 
"Uerj; truly, 

^ROBERT SWARTWOUT, 

Hermosa, Colorado. 



76 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

Horse Breeding 

Without going into the principles of animal breeding as a science, 
we will consider horse breeding as practiced and practicable, 
alluding to some of the well-known laws and rules as they suggest 
themselves, when having a bearing upon the particular problems 
under consideration. Probably the first question that concerns the 
horse breeder is the kind of mares to breed from, and it indeed 
merits much more careful thought than it frequently receives. 

The fundamental principle of breeding, " like begets like," applies 
to the brood mare with the same force that obtains with other 
animals, and if it is true, as it undoubtedly is, that it does not pay 
to produce inferior horses, then it obviously does not pay to breed 
poor mares, with the certainty that their inferiority will be repro- 
duced. 

The mare must be a good animal of her kind. She must be 
free from defects of size and conformation that may be transmitted 
to her progeny. She must not have unsoundnesses of a hereditary 
nature. Her temperament and intelligence are also as subject to 
the laws of heredity as any other qualities. Broken down and 
unsound mares are not desirable breeding propositions. Age is 
no bar to the desirability of a brood mare ; in fact, an old mare, if 
sound and of the right type, presents distinct advantages by way 
of guarantee of stamina and longevity, and freedom from predispo- 
sition to unsoundness. There are, however, certain difficulties 
and even added risks in breeding old mares. Their fecundity is 
lessened and difficulties of parturition are somewhat increased by 
old age. 

So long as breeders generally must select from among animals 
considerably short of perfection, and we advise discrimination against 
the defects mentioned, it may well be asked " what mares then can 
we breed ? " Probably the defects of lack of refinement, a rather 
open conformation bordering on coarseness, and other characters 

Exercise your horses before putting them into the hard spring work- 



HORSE BREEDING 77 

peculiar to the female sex are the least objectionable and most 
easily counteracted by care in the selection of the sire. 

If the mare has strength, good constitutional vigor, is of good 
size, and free from constitutional defects or unsoundness, she will 
do to breed. 

THE SELECTION of the SIRE is of much consequence 
and is frequently too little considered. It is chiefly through the 
sire that improvement in our domestic animals is secured. We 
should at the outset select a stallion that is better than the mares 
bred to him. He should be in the first place of the breed best 
suited to the conditions of the breeder's business and market, and of 
a breed and type that will cross well with the mares chosen. He 
should not be of an entirely different class from his mares, or un- 
certainty and much variety of progeny will result. In size he 
should generally be larger than the mare, for improvement in size 
is by no means the least object in breeding. A good big horse is 
better than a good little horse. The draft sire should weigh a ton, 
the coach sire 1300 to 1500 pounds, and the speed sire about 
1 200, so that he may add something to the size of his colts, as 
well as to their other points of excellence. 

The stallion should be more compactly and strongly made than 
the mare, not only as a sex characteristic, but that he may beget 
rugged, strong foals. He should be finely finished, upstanding, 
stylish, and superior in action, for all these characters are valuable 
and need to be improved in breeding. His temper, courage and 
intelligence are also important, and particularly his prepotency. 

Prepotency is an individual characteristic that can only be de- 
termined by test ; but the sire that has the prepotency to stamp his 
virtues uniformly upon his progeny is an animal of rare value. 
Pedigree is valuable chiefly as an indicator of prepotency, for the 
pure-bred sire is usually more prepotent because of his lineage. 
The kind of a pedigree that is most certain to produce prepotent 

"/ have used the Bickmore Gall Cure ever since it came out, and it is 
good. Tl. %. Reynolds. 'Perry, III." 



78 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

animals is the one that is most uniform, not only in the kind of 
characters of the animals included, but in their degree as well. 

The horse breeder, to be successful, should select a sire better 
than his mares, of larger size, compacter build, finer finish, superior 
action, and as prepotent as possible. 

In regard to the season of the year, spring is the natural breeding 
season, and the natural instincts of the mares to breed in spring and 
summer are very firmly fixed. It often happens that the mare can 
be spared from work at other times more easily, and when this is 
the case the greater advantages will warrant an effort in that direc- 
tion. Mares may be successfully bred to foal in late summer or 
early fall, or in late winter or very early spring, so that their use on 
farms for spring and summer work is not seriously interfered with. 

The Brood Mare Needs Exercise and Liberal Feeding 

The exercise should be in kind adapted to her capacity ; draft 
work for draft mares, carriage work for lighter mares ; and farm 
work can be found suitable to almost any kind of a brood mare. 
The amount of work a pregnant mare can safely perform is the 
same during the first six or seven months of pregnancy as with a 
mare not with foal. As the time for parturition approaches and 
she grows heavier, the pace will be gradually slackened and the 
working hours shortened. She may perform work at a moderate 
pace up to two or three days before foaling without prejudice to 
the foal or herself. Indeed, she will be stronger and parturition 
easier because of the regular work performed. Very fast or heavy 
work, heating unduly, heavy backing, sharp turning, &c., are to be 
avoided by mares near to parturition, after the seventh or eighth 
month. FOR PARTURITION a loose box or paddock should 
be provided and the mare left to herself for the most part, the 
groom merely informing himself whether she is doing well or other- 
wise, and giving assistance only when needed, which is very rare. 

If you want strong, health]) colts, use strong, healthy horses for breeding. 



EXERCISE AND LIBERAL FEEDING 79 

A cooling, laxative ration before foaling is of much value. Pasture 
grass or carrots, bran mashes, or dry bran, and oil meal being 
among the best laxative fodders. 

AFTER FOALING the mare should have a vacation, pref- 
erably in pasture ; but she must be liberally fed to secure the most 
rapid growth of the foal. Growth counts, and at no period can 
it be more certainly or cheaply secured than during the first months 
of life. 

WEANING takes places at live or six months, or much earlier 
if the mare's work is needed. It is better for the working mare to 
be relieved of the drain of milk secretion and better for the foal. 
Very good results may be obtained by weaning the youngsters at 
two months. Weaning should be sharp and decisive and not pro- 
tracted, to give the least set back. After weaning the colt's feed 
should be ample and varied. Plenty of grass or good hay, crushed 
oats, bran, and sweet skimmed milk are all good feeds and may be 
suited to the appetite of the youngster. The main point is to keep 
the foal growing rapidly and make him as large as possible. He 
will be more useful and bring more money if of large size than if 
stunted and small. 

TRAINING or BREAKING to the halter begins soon after 
foaling ; harness lessons at about two years old. In training colts, 
the teacher must at all times command their confidence. Teach 
one thing at a time. Always use the same word or signal for the 
same movement. Drill each action until promptly and cleanly 
executed. Avoid. confusing the colt with too many things at once. 
A few lessons well taught are better than many half taught. Do 
not make the first lessons too long. Colts learn faster when fresh 
than when tired. Tiring out a colt to make him manageable is a 
poor method. It is apt to spoil the temper and make him balky 
or sullen. Colts recuperate rapidly and may take two or three 

" We are located on the Gulf Cattle Range. The cow men all want 
Bicl^more 's Gall Cure for saddle galls. 

F. M. Duke, Alain, Texas. " 



80 DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN HORSE 

short lessons daily, but half an hour is generally long enough at 
first. Avoid physical contests. The strength of the trainer is less 
than that of the colt, and once the latter learns the fact, he has 
learned a thing dangerous to all who handle him. It makes little 
difference whether harness training is given singly or with another 
horse at first. It should be both ways before it is finished. The 
horse selected as mate for the youngster should not be a dead- 
head, but as well suited in gait and temperament to the pupil as 
may be. 

DEVELOPMENT is consistent with profitable use, and the 
colt may be made to pay his way with work performed after he is 
two years old, provided he is well-grown and proper judgment is 
used in regulating the work to his capacity. Long hours, hard 
drives or heavy draft are not suited to the youngster. They tend 
to stunt his growth and break his spirit, both fatal to the best final 
product. On the other hand, short daily drives or light farm work, 
generally increasing as the youngster's muscles and appetite for 
work increase, not only do no harm but stimulate the appetite and 
promote the growth, so that in the end you have a well-grown, 
well-trained, seasoned horse, instead of a soft, flabby, green colt, 
which can only be made fit for hard use by months of careful 
handling and conditioning. 

Many horses are not unlike colts in respect to their powers of 
endurance. There is a vast difference between the horse in daily 
use, with muscles hardened and turned for heavy draft or hard 
drives, and the one that has stood in the stable on full feed in idle- 
ness. In the spring farm horses commonly are short of work and 
need to be gradually seasoned with easier tasks before the hard 
daily labors of tillage begin. 

Carriage horses that are little used are not fit for long, hard 
drives. A fat horse and one in hard flesh are very different ani- 
mals. It is comparatively easy to fat up a horse inured to hard 

Condition poroders are unnecessary if your horses are fed right and properly 
exercised. 



EXERCISE AND LIBERAL FEEDING 81 

work ; but it is a slow, tedious process to replace soft fat with 
well-seasoned muscle. 

In CONDITIONING and TRAINING RACE HORSES 
it is the artist who brings his charges to the post fit to go the race 
of their life. Many fall by the way and break down under the 
strain of training. Many horses are called " quitters " because their 
tired muscles refuse to act towards the end of a bruising race, and 
they allow competitors to pass them and win. The Arab horse- 
man knows the value of a horse thoroughly toughened and ready 
to take his rider a hundred miles in ten hours. The truckman 
knows the advantage of having his team ready to go in the collar 
safely for every ounce there is in them when called on. 

The race-horse trainer knows that many a race is lost or won 
on the condition of the horse and its ability to carry the pace to 
the finish. 

Use does not hurt seasoned horses. Feed and use are both 
dangerous to horses in idleness. 



" Your Call Cure has given the best of satisfaction among farmers and 
horsemen, tK- ^- Aamoth, Faith, Minn." 



The Bickmore Gall Cure Company 

OLD TOWN. MAINE, U. S. A. 
Sole Makers of Bickmore's Gall Cure 



BRANCH OFFICES AND AGENCIES 

Pacific Coast Fred P. Winchester, 578 Mission St.. San 

Francisco, California. 

Canada Wingate Chemical Co., 545 Notre Darne St, 

W., Montreal. 

Great Britain American Agencies, Ltd., 38 Shoe Lane, Lon- 
don, E. C, England. 

Qermany and Middle Europe Bickmore Gall Cure Co., J. A. Gray, Agent, 

Rittr. Strasse 42-43, Berlin, S. W. 68. 

France Agency now being arranged. 

Australia Bickmore Gall Cure Co., Abbott Richardson, 

Agent, 489 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 

New Zealand Brodrick & Kinvig, Wellington. 

South Africa Lennon Limited, Cape Town and Branches. 

India Howe & Trunkett, Calcutta. 

Argentine Republic .... Miller & Cia., Rivadavia, No. 567, Buenos 

Ayres. 

Jl BUSINESS "PROPOSITION. Buy a box of Bickmore's Gall Cure, 
use it according to directions, and if you are not perfectly satisfied that it is just 
as represented the dealer will pay you back your money. You run no risk, as 
we authorize the dealer to do this. Do not let a horse lie idle that you need in 
your business when the cost of a single day's feed expended in a box of Bick- 
more's Gall Cure will cure the sore, and from a constant bill of expense will turn 
your horse into a money earner once more. 

Si 



TRIAL OFFER 

If any reader of this book, who owns stock and has never used 
Bickmore's Gall Cure, would like to try it, we will mail a sample 
box free of charge upon request. The coupon below should be 
filled out, indicating how much stock is owned, and mailed to us : 

S^ame 

P. O. Address ' 



%. F. D. route if any Slate^ 



I own horses. cattle, mules, and if your 

sample works satisfactorily I will remember your trade-mark and ask /o' 
BICKMORE'S Qall Cure when I call for it at my dealer's place of busi- 
ness. 

Signed : 



S3 



JUN 6 19U& 



